One Summer Day
by Tea with Sugar
Summary: AU - There are no Hunger Games to live with, and Katniss has to move into another town, a place where she visited only once and never forgot. Also she has never forgotten a blue eyed boy who was just waiting for her his entire life.
1. Chapter 1

**At this point the entire world know that Suzanne Collins was the one who wrote **_The Hunger Games_**, so all that I can say is how much I love the characters and wanted to see them in this ****alternative universe.**

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The road was full of beautiful oaks and surrounded by mountains, I can barely recognize it. Considering the fact that had been years since my last visit this is no surprise. Only the wind disrupts the utter silence inside the car, until Prim breaks the ice.

"Are we there yet?" her small voice is broken and ragged, I take a look over my shoulder, she is lying on the backseat holding tightly to a small bouquet of flowers. Her eyes are swollen and red from crying, she lets out small sobs once in a while, just by looking at her makes my heart constrict.

Suddenly, I am the one fighting the tears, my mind wanders to my neighbors, to my dear friends, to Gale… all left behind, an entire lifetime that came to an end.

"Please, Primrose. We are going to get there, when we get there," my mother doesn't sound like herself, the tone is stern and cold, eyes focused on the road and hands firm on the wheel. At least is something, until a few months ago she wouldn't even speak, so I take any sound coming from her as an improvement.

I keep following the subtle changes in the landscape, from the dense woods to vast green meadows. It happens only for a second, almost as if the car had made a brief stop just for me to contemplate the sight.

A path of dandelions greets my eyes and I'm jolted back in time. I shake my head slight, forbidding myself from revisiting such memory, it would be childlike and too desperate. Then the city comes into view, at first all that we see is some small houses and some stores. After some time we park in front of this two storey house with white fences and a flowerless garden.

Mother inhales deep and her voices comes shaky, "Here we are, our new home," the way she says the word _home_ almost breaks my heart, but it's impossible since I didn't had the chance to mend it in the first place. We get off the car, Prim still clutching to the bouquet, and soon the front door of the house opens, revealing a familiar figure.

He comes in our direction and I recognize him, Haymitch Abernathy, the very own man that gave this house to us. He seems to be in his forties, he has this scrappy look and constant knowing look that annoys me and he seems to observe anything and anyone all the time.

"Mrs. Everdeen, glad to see you," my mother just nods, they both seem to be walking in eggshells. "The moving truck must arrive in a couple of hours, but feel free to explore the house or the neighborhood if you want," he gives a key to her and motions his hand to the houses around us.

Mostly of them look similar, big front yards, family cars, white fences, two floors and I can see some dog houses in front of some houses. I grin comes to my face at the sudden thought of Buttercup, Prim's cat, being chased by some random dog.

"You girls will enjoy here, the school is not so far away and most stores are near by," he inform us, he looks at Prim with a pained expression, he doesn't seem too oblivious to her distress, "You take good care of her, sweetheart," his words are addressed to me.

We met briefly in the day that my mother received the testament, we didn't talked much that day, but he felt free to call me 'sweetheart'. I find very odd how comfortable I feel by him calling me like this.

We say our good byes to our newest 'friend' and he surprises all of us by going to the house next door. Haymitch is our neighbor, well, at least if I need any guidance I can come to him, I guess…

We take our luggage from the car and step into our new home. From the small entryway we can see how big the living room is, the kitchen right in the end of the hallway and right in front of us is the staircase to the second floor. All the furniture is covered with white sheets, I start to pull them off, making dust float around the room. The sunlight makes the room shimmer and while I fold the sheets my eyes fall on a wall covered with portraits.

I come closer to the pictures and see an entire family history displayed, photos of the wedding day of a young couple, of them holding a baby, from a beautiful blonde girl dancing ballet… I notice how they all have blonde hair and blue eyes, the only person different in one of the photos is a young man with olive skin, grey eyes and dark brown hair. He is holding a small baby girl while the young lady beside him holds another.

"They never spoke with us again," her voice disrupts my thoughts, I turn on my heels to see my mother admiring the family photo, her fingers brushing softly the picture frame, "We really wanted them to know you girls," her voice breaks when her fingers trace an imaginary pattern on the man's face, "I miss your father so much,"

"You're not the only one," I decide to explore upstairs, too tired of my mother's emotional breakdowns.

Aside from the photos displayed in the living room there I not much else that tells the history of my family, apparently my grandparents didn't like to revisit the past, of how they saw their only daughter marry some miner and leave town, how they turned their backs to their own granddaughters and now it's too late.

The walls are plain, the rooms empty, except for the beds and some tapestry. I end up with the room with a view to the street. I go to one of the windows and I can see children playing in small playground located in the street corner, the mailman delivering some package to an elder woman across the street and notice how our garden is the only one without flowers or trees.

"Mom wants to know if you could go downtown to buy some groceries, she wants to be here when our stuff arrives," Prim appears in the doorway, a pleading look on her face, bouquet in hand.

"You should put that on a vase with water," I say matter of factly. She takes the bouquet in her arms and hugs it as if her life depended on it. "Hey, cheer up. Things will turn out just fine, okay?" I knee down so our eyes can be at the same level, taking the bouquet from her grasp, she looks nervously at me, "Would you like anything? Maybe chocolate, it makes everything better, right?"

"Since when you became such an optimistic person?" she says, whimpers diminishing by the second.

"Since you became the downcast one of this duo, little duck," I say pointing my finger between us, "Why don't you come with me, Buttercup can make company to mom," she nods somewhat enthusiastically and we descend the stairs to meet our mother, who is waiting for us in the front porch, she seems sad and for a second I think that she is gone again.

She turns to us, giving a halfhearted smile, "Here are the car keys and money, don't worry the merchant area is a few blocks away," she explains how to get there and I listen intently, we ride according to her directions, soon we spot the grocery store and a few other establishments.

I park in front of the flower shop, Prim seems genuinely interest in this part of the town, she looks attentive to every single storefront. While walking to the grocery store I notice how little this part of the town has changed, I even recognize some places such as the candy shop, the movie theater, a small restaurant and the bakery. I wonder if everyone from that summer still around too.

We go to the grocery store and I can feel everyone's eyes upon us, the cashier don't take his eyes from us the entire time while we survey the shelves and this unsettling feeling increases. Prim fills a basket with groceries and we go pay for it. The cashier, name is Thom according to his tag, seems a bit embarrassed when we start to place our stuff in front of the register, good, I was uncomfortable way before that.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare at you, it's just that… we don't see many visitors this time of the year," his apology gets me by surprise.

"Don't worry, besides, I think that we do like fish out of water here," I take a look at Prim, her two blonde braids and shiny blue eyes, "Well, at least I do," I correct myself, "And we're not visitors, you are going to see a lot of us from now on," I correct him now.

Thom gives a good natured laugh, "Nah, everyone will receive you with open arms, you're Mrs. Everdeen daughter, right?" my eyes widen, and Prim is the one who answers him with a vigorous nod, "I knew it!" he says triumphantly, "Ever since your grandparents… you know, passed away, the whole town was expecting for you guys to arrive,"

This news surprise me even more, our grandparents should had been quite notorious in town, or maybe my mother was popular and now everyone wanted to see how she was faring.

"Well, nice to meet you…" he lingers in the last word, waiting for me to finish it.

"Katniss, and this is my sister Primrose," Prim gives him a smile and takes some of the paper bags that Thom arranged for us, "See you around, Thom," I take the rest of the bags, placing the money in front of him before leaving.

"So, what did you think?" Prim asks me while we walk back to the car, "Mom is popular, or our grandpa and grandma were?"

"Maybe both, we ask mom later," right at this second, Prim's eyes wide and she runs to a window store, I take a look at its facade, it's the bakery.

"Katniss, look!" she points to frosted cake displayed, the frosting is intricate and beautiful, you can tell that whoever did this is an expert, some costumers leave the place and the smell of fresh bread exhales from inside out, making my mouth water. "Oh, could we please go inside," she begs with her big blue eyes, that she knows that I have no defense against.

"Fine, besides, some bread wouldn't do any harm," I convince myself.

The front door bell chimes when we enter the bakery and the cake displayed seems to be just the tip of the iceberg. The entire place is full with the most beautiful pastries, strawberry tarts, cinnamon buns, many cupcakes, sugar cookies and a large variety of breads and cakes. I keep my jaw firmly closed, sure enough I'll drool if I open it.

"May I help you, ladies?" I tall man with blonde hair and gentle hazel eyes appears from behind the counter, his apron tells me that he is the baker running this place. His eyes meet mine briefly before finding Prim staring at a red velvet cupcake. "You…" his eyes widen, mouth drops a little, almost as if he had seen a ghost.

"How much is it?" Prim asks pointing to the cupcake, the man keeps looking at her. I grow unease by this, it's like he knows Prim. After a moment of silence he clears his throat and takes the cupcake from the display case, he hands it to Prim. Not answering her question after all.

"We also would like two loaves of bread, the ones with raisin," I say, joining Prim next to the counter. He nods and places the loaves in a paper bag, I notice that we are out of hands to hold all the bags. "How much, for the bread and the cupcake?"

"It's gift to the Everdeen's girls," he says smiling at us, "I'm glad to finally meet you, you two resemble so much your parents," he smiles gently at Prim and then at me.

The front door bell chimes again, but I'm so focused trying to jungle all the bags that I don't dare to turn around.

"Oh, son, right on time, could you help these lovely ladies with their groceries?"

"Of course," the voice is gentle and wave of warmth rushes through me, I turn on my heel to see his face.

His eyes lock immediately with mine. The sunlight streaming through the shop window makes his blonde hair golden, his blue eyes shimmering, flour all over his clothes and unmistakable smell of cinnamon and dill exhaling from him. He is the boy with the bread…


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yeah, I know that there isn't much Peeta in this chapter, but I felt the need to establish a few things in Katniss new life before placing them together, to compensate I decide to show a character that I have been dying to write a about.**

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He keeps motioning his arms to me, his expression is amused, blues eyes twinkling in a mischievous mien, he is actually saying something…

"…-th the bags? Miss?" he assumes a concerned tone now, looking confused at me, _what is he talking about?_

"Katniss, the bags, we could use his help ya know?" Prim brings me to my senses, I look between the two blondes and gasp at the realization, he is just offering help with the bags. I hand a few of them to him and try to ignore the slightly and almost imperceptible contact of our hands.

I pass by him, making my way out of the bakery, in time to see Prim graciously waving goodbye to the baker, we make our way to the car in silence, a few people shooting us curious looks, but what is really disturbing is that I can sense the blonde boy gaze in the back of my head. The fact that he doesn't walk, he stomps, also takes my attention, he is really loud.

He almost trips when I stop in front of our car, an ordinary japanese model that we managed to buy after years of hard work from both me and my mother. I open the back placing the bags in one side while the boy places in the opposite one. Prim is delighting herself with the red velvet cupcake, leaving me by myself with our companion. Really? The always friendly and talkative Primrose Everdeen will let me down just now?

Yep, she pretty much is.

"So… thanks, for your help," I speak carefully, almost as if I'm about to trigger a bomb. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name,"

He smiles at me, a bright white smile that almost blinds me under the blazing sun, for a second my mind travels to how he can be so pale in this town, his fair skin looks complete unscathed by the sun. Prim in the other hand was already showing clear signs of natural tanning in her exposed shoulders and cheeks, they're all rosy now.

"Well that is because I didn't say it. My name is…"

"_Peeta!_" a young girl, around my age shouts from the flower shop, just like the majority of the townsfolk she is blonde with blue eyes, her curvy figure stands in the front of the shop looking a little surprise at my sight, "Oh, sorry, didn't knew that you were occupied, I heard your voice and then…" you can't really tell if she is blushing, like Prim, her chees were kissed by the sun.

"I will be with you in a minute, Delly," he doesn't even take his eyes from me while saying so. "So, my name is Peeta, Peeta Mellark, nice to meet you," he extend a hand to me and I reluctantly raise mine so we can shake it awkwardly.

"_Pita_? As in Pita bread?" odd choice for a name, but considering that his father works at a bakery is not all that weird.

He laughs fully, "No, is Peeta, as in P-e-e-t-a," he spells to me, "But yeah, my family has a thing for bread, it's almost an obsession, no wonder we run the bakery, that one inside is my dad, my brothers also have names after some kind of bread,"

"Oh," well after making a dumb of myself already there is not much else for me to do, "I'm… Katniss," I say a little louder, the last time I introduced myself to a boy I end up with a nickname that haunts me constantly. "Katniss…"

"Everdeen," he cuts me off. "Yeah, sorry… small town, I kinda figure it out as soon as I laid my eyes on you," he gives me a crooked smile and maybe is the way that he says the words _my eyes on you_ or maybe it's the way that the sudden breeze gently waves his curly blonde hair, the fact is that I get this tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach.

We stand for a moment, looking somewhat embarrassed at each other for a while, "Oh, and that it's Primrose, my sister," Prim takes notice of us for the first time in the whole conversation and beams at him, crumbs of cupcake spread all over her chin.

"Hi there," he waves at her, receiving an even more enthusiastically wave from her, she is being shy, I can tell. "Well, see you around then?" he shoves his hands in his pocket, looking at his feet, now I can tell that he is blushing.

"See you around," is all I can muster before nodding and getting inside the car, Prim already sited in the passengers sit. We both look at Peeta's going to the flower shop, his worn out white shirt clung to his broad shoulders and defined muscles, he wasn't tall by no means, just a couple inches taller than I'm, but he was well built, I could sense a manly vibe from him a mile away.

"Wait a second, I think that mom has a tissue box somewhere in the glove compartment," Prim mumbled and started laughing at me, pretending to look for the imaginary tissue box.

"W-what are you talking about?" I stammered.

"Katniss, you're drooling," she starts giggling, "But I gotta say, is quite understandable, I mean… he is so handsome!" she looks at Peeta who just got outside the flower shop, he is talking playfully with the Delly girl.

If it was someone else I would have got into some clash about how I was not training my eyes on him, but when it comes to Prim is impossible to argue. So I let the blush comes and add fuel to the laughing outburst of hers.

"_Things will turn out just fine_… you said yourself," she teases me later when her laughing subsides.

I park in the garage and we start taking the groceries to the kitchen, I take a glimpse of our mother through the kitchen window, she is talking with some worker from the moving company in front of the house, they must have finished already. Prim goes straight to her room, leaving me behind to arrange the groceries, if wasn't for the fact that she is in a fragile situation I would have scolded her, but I don't have the heart to do so now.

A few minutes later mother appears, joining me in the task, "So how was the ride to downtown, anything interesting?"

"Not really," honestly there wasn't _anything_ really interesting, but if she had asked about _someone_ interesting the answer would had been completely different though. "Are they done with the moving?"

She nods, looking at the bags, surveying our picks, "Oh, you brought bread," she takes one of the loaves and smells it, "Hmmm… Ethan sure still got it, his cupcakes are to die for, when you go there make sure to try the red velvet one, it's superb!" she exclaims with such vivacity that startles me, no wonder he figured it out that Prim was her daughter, they are so similar that even their taste for sweeties is the same.

"Been there, done that," I motion my hands signaling for her to calm down, "He figured that we were your daughters the moment that he laid eyes on us, you are quite popular in this town aren't you?" I add an edge to my voice, not in my entire life I would have expect my mother to be a popular girl, since she always was very low-key.

"Oh please, it's not like that," she says smiling shyly. We finish arranging the groceries and then roam to the living room where piles of boxes are waiting for us to be unpacked. Just my luck.

We spend the entire afternoon doing that, looking for places to put books, clothes, kitchen utensils and a whole set of memories from what it seems to be a distant life now. I take all my personal belongings and place them in one of the empty boxes and go to my room. In the hallway of the second floor I hear a sob, its coming from Prim's room, it will crush me for sure, but if there is something that I know about my sister is that she keeps her problems to herself until the last minute of the day, because in this last minute she lets them crash over her.

I place the box in the hallway and gently knock in her doorway, after so many years we still need to let her door open, she is afraid of the dark. "Can I come in?" my voice coming almost as a whisper.

She has her back to me, her small figure laying on the bed, curled around something. I spot Buttercup next to the window, a habit of his, he is very protective of Prim.

"I guess…" she whimpers a bit and I have a look of what she is holding. Her small bouquet. My hearts cracks just a little bit more.

"You know, Rory and the rest of your friends wouldn't like to see you like that," I gently pat her back, coaxing a new round of sobs from her, "I definitely don't like it, but I understand,"

"Thanks," she mumbles after some moments. I leave her room, leaving a small rift so that enough light go into her room.

I retrieve my box from the hallway and finally get in my own room, the emptiness overwhelms me. Just my drawer, a few boxes with clothes and the bed – that my mother had neatly groomed for me, I drop the box next to the others and open it, just to find a single photo frame on top of the stuff.

It's a photo of me and Gale on my last day in school, both of us holding our bows, we had just left the archery club to get some ice cream. Maybe was the sight of Gale, maybe was everything, maybe I just needed something to break the dam of emotions in my heart. Suddenly everything was too much, all those changes happening just so fast. _Everything changes_, I repeat this in my head like a mantra. Then I see a slim box leaning at the wall near the window, I know exactly what resides in there, it coaxes a small smile from me.

The next morning was bright, sunlight illuminating my entire room, it was pretty hot too, making me very uncomfortable in bed, so I leap from the mattress and make my way to the bathroom that resides in the end of the hallway. I hop in the shower and the water is cold as ice, which is perfect, I was almost on fire.

I look franticly through the boxes with clothes, managing to find a pair of khaki shorts and a pale blue and white checked tank top. I usually go for pants and shirts, but today is so hot that the heat is getting the best of me. I dress up and braid my hair using one of Prim's ribbons to tie it together.

I go downstairs and find my mother sited in the dining room, she is looking dreamy at a slip of paper in her hand.

"What is that?" she looks at me startled.

"Good morning to you too, young lady," her tone reproachful, _where are my manners?_

"Good morning," I say a bit embarrassed, "What is that?" I repeat, annoying her in the process.

She rolls her eyes at me, it's funny that I inherit such thing from her, "It's your grandparent's last will," she says matter-of-factly.

I keep waiting for her to have an emotional meltdown or a collapse or a seizure or just to stop everything and start to rotten in the chair like she done in the past. Instead she just chuckles.

"I'm not going anywhere, don't worry," she says smiling coyly at me, "This letter is actually ironically, you see… your grandparents had a glimpse of the future, or something like that,"

I raise my eyebrows at her, "Really? How come?"

"In the end of letter they said that I was going to miss more your father than them, and while I would mourn him I wouldn't do such thing for them," she states, her face assuming a weird expression.

Choosing carefully my words I say, "Thinking back I guess that is true, I mean, you didn't even visit their grave yet," I don't bring up the fact that she almost died when father was gone, or how she still mourns him everyday, it's kind of out in the open anyways.

We keep looking at each other, she resting in the chair and me standing in the doorway, thankfully mom knows that I don't do well with words.

"So, what are you going to do the rest of the summer? You got plenty of time before school starts," true enough, I don't even know where things are around here.

"Maybe do some exploring, do you have any suggestions?"

She measure her words, her eyes narrow and you can tell that she is focusing, "There is the lake, it is a vision this time of the year, and it's better than the public pool,"

Hundreds of wild kids, annoying parents and lazy elders concentrated in one small, wet, hot, stinky, unsanitary pool it's more appealing to me than a visit to a crypt filled with flesh eating zombies.

"How do I get there?" the lake is not a bad idea at all, sounds pleasant enough to me.

"You can take my old bike, cars don't make through the track, and it's too far to go by foot, I suggest you to get a swimsuit, you won't resist," she says smiling. She knows me.

It took me two hours to find the lake, after looking like an idiot for searching the right track with the poor directions given by my mother I finally managed to get in the right one, she could have told me that all that it takes to find it is to go to the town square and follow the plaques, the track is right behind it. She was right though, there is no way to get here by car, the path is narrow and is very difficult terrain. I did quite the mountain bike to make my way.

But it's definitely worth it. The lake is huge and striking, the water is so blue that it reflects beautifully the sky above my head, almost as a mirror. I regret not having a fishing pole, life is emanating from everywhere. In the opposite side from where I stand I can see some families enjoying the morning sun, some very small boats with fishermen in the middle of the lake. I dismount from my bike and walk around looking for a spot to rest. When I see a bed of primroses I take as a signal and sit next to it, stretching my legs and taking of my sneakers, blades of grass gracing my skin.

Even with the kids splashing and shouting in the water the place is very quiet, the lake itself must be 6 acres or even more, you can easily lose the sight of its extension. The place is surrounded by tall trees, some I recognize as pine trees others I never seen before, there is also a small wooden wharf resting a few meters away, some men are fishing there, flowers also appears around the lake, not only primroses – that I take as a good sign – but some beautiful hydrangeas, irises and even some rare chrysanthemums. Far away I can hear the sounds of mockingbirds.

I decide that the lake is my new favorite place in this town.

Deciding to enjoy the fullest I take my copy of _Romeo and Juliet_ from my backpack, I was reading it before the moving, the shade provided by the tree above me was just giving the perfect light to read, besides, I can swim later.

I was already immersed in the book when the sound of dripping water took my attention, and now there was more than just the tree shade blocking the sunlight. How I wished that didn't look up to see the most ridiculously distracting sight of my entire life. His voice almost made me dig a hole in the ground and bury my head in it.

"I don't remember seen you around here before, love,"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So my summer is almost over, but this fic is only getting started. I loved all the guesses in the reviews, some got very into it! So here is the **_**enlightenment**_** for your doubt! **

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Greek art asserts a certain Olympian the highest degree of beauty that can be imagined by mere mortals, well, for once, they were wrong. So wrong.

The bronze hair, chiseled body, tanned skin, bright smile, incredible sea green eyes and flirtatious voice makes the man in front of me the very own definition of beautiful. The fact that he is standing before my eyes wearing no more than a black speedo also helps making an impression. He is so impossibly attractive that, suddenly, he is not.

"May I help you," I manage to say after taking in the handsomeness in front of me.

He gives me a half smirk, bending down enough to get a look of my face, "My apologies, I don't think that we met before,"

I stand up, avoiding any physical contact with him, "No, we were not, I'm new in town," my eyes clash with his, then his smirk becomes a wide smile.

"Well my dear friend, my name is Finnick Odair," he takes my right hand and kisses the back of it, "But for you is _just_ Finnick," he winks. _Urgh… cheesy much?_

"Nice to meet you, _just_ Finnick, I'm Katniss Everdeen," his eyes widen and he let go of my hand.

His jaw drops and he takes a step back, like he has seen a ghost, I even turn around quickly to see what is so frightening.

"Is something wrong?" I turn back to him.

He smile comes back fully, even wider, if is that possible, "Nothing, it's just I never expected to see the famous Everdeen girl wandering around in such uneventful day like this," again my family name drawing attention, he stares at me with an amused smile, "Care to join me and some friends for a dip in the lake?" he motions his hand to the wharf.

"Sorry, my mother always says to never talk to strangers, especially the creep ones," I shoot him a smirk, coaxing one from his own lips.

"Oh my, oh my, what a wise advice from such splendid woman," he stretch his arms above his head, allowing me to have a glimpse of all his muscles flexing. I can't help but chuckle during this small show of his, "Come on, what is the harm? Is not like we're going to kill you or something,"

I ponder this for a few seconds, _what's the harm?_ Besides, I'm already wearing a swimsuit underneath my clothes, and it's so hot… and the lake looks so tempting…

"Fine, a quick swim would be nice," he shoots me another smile and goes to the wharf, me following close behind with my bike and backpack in hand.

When we get in edge of the wharf I see two boys and a girl fishing, actually just one of the boys is fishing the other two are just laying under the sun. One of the boys has beautiful satin skin, he is broad shouldered and when he stands up to greet me I have to look up to meet his dark eyes.

"My dear lady Everdeen, I would like to introduce you to Thresh," he motions his hand to the tall boy and we shake hands, with a very firm grasp I must say, "that one is Cato," the blond boy that was fishing crane his head to shoot me a quick smile, he too has a strong body, the muscle defined, with his alabaster skin being graced by the sun, his blue eyes scan my figure and I feel a little self-conscious for a second, "and the adorable Johanna" the girl with short spiky hair just peeks me from the corner of her eye, waving at me in a dismissively manner.

"Nice to meet you all," I manage a smile and Cato stands up, almost shoving Thresh out of the way, they're both the same height, he stands his hand and I shake it awkwardly, Johanna rolls her eyes at the boys antics.

He seems a little anxious about my presence, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, we have been eager to meet one of the Everdeen girls," Cato says to me and Johanna scoffs right on the spot.

"Say for yourself, Cato," she stand up from the wooden surface and eyes me from head to toe, I do the same and wonder how she can be so comfortable around so many boys wearing just a two-piece bathing suit, she is showing more skin than Finnick, and trust me, he is showing a lot more than necessary. Her chocolate eyes collide with mine and we stare at each other before she speaks again, "Until now, I haven't see what the fuss is all about," Finnick suppress a laugh and Cato and Thresh shake their head at her.

"I have," a voice comes from behind me, and I have the stupid idea to turn around. Everybody does so.

He is wearing just a pair of swimming trunks, his pale skin almost glistening in the sun, his blond curls falling over his eyes and he may not be built as Cato or Thresh, but he is definitely a looker, his legs strong and firm, just as his arms and I can't help but stare at his defined chest and abs. For some reason is more embarrassing to look at him than to look at Finnick, I really hope that my blush can be mistaken with a sun burn.

"You don't count, Mellark," Johanna growls at him, but he just smiles ruefully at her and much to my surprise she smiles back, "Where are the girls anyway?" right on cue two blonde girls appear from the path behind Peeta, I recognize one of them as the girl from the flower shop, Delly something, the other is I could easily assume as a lost older sister of Prim.

Both of them acknowledge before gathering with the rest of the group, Delly say a bright _hello_ and waves enthusiastically, while the other girl nods somewhat shyly.

"Oh, right! Katniss, you already know Delly," I nod towards the girl, "And this is Madge," Peeta introduces me to the other blonde, she is wearing a lovely one piece suit with a pink ribbon adorning her hair, which is falling in soft curves just like mine, her blue eyes finding my gaze.

"Nice to meet you," we say at the same time, shaking hands while exchanging a laugh, her pale skin is a bit rosy already. "You have quite a party here," I address to Finnick.

"The more the merrier, you know what I mean," then he leaps out the wharf, splashing in the lake sending water everywhere. The boys laugh while the girls screech, it doesn't take a few seconds until Thresh shoves Cato in the water and Johanna pulls Delly with her. Usually I don't feel comfortable around so many people, back in my old town I would usually hang out only with Gale, but even then it was too much for me. However, now the whole thing seems just _fun_.

Maybe the sun has already done some brain damage, or it's just the heat, or the scent of cinnamon and dill emanating from Peeta…

_Wait, when did he get so close?_

"Are you not going in?" he asks me innocently, with that smile of his that throws me off balance, "It's better than stand here baking in the sun!" he shouts while jumping of the wharf, making a somersault in midair, wowing the small crowd watching him, I giggle at his antic. I actually giggled, I never giggled, not once in my life.

"He is right, though," Madge says quietly at my side, she bends down and places her feet in the water, "Come on, the water feels great-!" she barely finishes her sentence before Cato takes her in his arms and sinks with her underwater.

I take a second to watch the group of friends, Thresh has Delly over his shoulders, while Finnick is with Johanna over his, they are competing to see who throws the other first and you can tell that Johanna is more competitive. I decide to enjoy and start to undress, reveling my white two-piece swimsuit. I can still hear the laughter and loud voices but I freeze in my tracks when I sense his eyes on me. I was just putting my clothes in my backpack when I turned to meet Peeta's gaze watching me. I have seen that look before, is the one that a hunter uses on its prey. Surprising even to myself, I kinda like it.

The water does feel great, cool and refreshing, it takes just a fraction of second before by body shudders with the contact. When I submerge fully I feel my muscles relaxing, I spend a good amount of time underwater, admiring how translucent the lake is, I can make out the tall trees and human figures that surround me, when I come up for air all eyes are on me, most of them perplexed and scared, just one seems amused.

"I think I'm in love," Finnick declares, he swims next to me and takes my hands in his, "How did you do that?" his smile is so wide that scares me a bit, from the corner of my eyes I can see Johanna glaring daggers at me, from the other I see Peeta with an astonished expression.

"Do what? Dive?" I ask confused.

"Do you know how much time you spend down there?" he asks enthusiastically, as if it was a common knowledge or just the most amazing thing in the world, in fact I don't know how much time I can hold my breath, I never counted. "You hold it for, like, six minutes! And you don't seem tired at all," he says as if reading my thoughts.

"Impressive indeed," Thresh says, his deep voice making me realize that their amazement is genuine.

"It's not a big deal…" my voice trails off.

"It is a _big_ deal!" Finnick almost shouts, "Where did you learn how to swim?"

It's almost like rubbing salt in a raw wound, "My father though me," their expressions fall, even Johanna's glare subsides, "But really, it's not a big thing, I had a friend that is almost a fish… a mermaid in her case, she practically lives underwater,"

Finnick face lightens up again, "You should introduce her to Finn here, he has a thing for swimmers," Cato explains, I nod but deep down I don't think that it would a good idea, Finnick is so not her type and he would have a hard time growing on her.

Everyone resumes their previous activities, except Peeta who closes the distance between us.

"You are full of surprises, hum?" he says that with a smirk in face.

"I'm an open book," I say dryly, but the tone comes surprisingly flirtatious.

"Then I guess that is written in a foreign language," his smile widening by the second, I considering answering with a wit comeback, but words fail me too often to take a risk now. "Didn't expect to see you here, how Finnick convinced you to join us?"

"Easy, I was, as you said 'baking in the sun' while reading under the shade," I point to the spot where I was, now occupied by a couple of kids, "And let's face it, when he appeared in front of me asking me to join him in the cool water… how you're supposed to say no to an offer like that?" my voice carries sarcasm and Peeta catches is, laughing fully, drawing some attention to us, exactly what Johanna was expecting to tackle Delly and win their small match.

"You're indeed full of surprises, Katniss Everdeen," I roll my eyes at him and we just stay there for a while, staring at each other, "So what else you do in your free time?" I'm thankful for his ability to keep the conversation going, I'm awful at small talk, although there are major details that I'm giving to him that I wouldn't do with anyone else.

"I used to shoot back home, with a bow and arrow in hand," his eyes widen in surprise, he shoots me a crooked smile while nodding in acknowledgement, "I was in the archery club of my previous school, it was better than cheerleading," I bit my lip and look to the fuzzy blonde next to us, Delly looks like the ultimate cheerleader and my movements were not that subtle, because Peeta's next words come to reassure me.

"Don't worry, she is not what she looks like," he says while smiling, he does that a lot, "But if I were you, I wouldn't talk about presidents of students council," he points to her, "Or the basketball players," he moves to Thresh, "Or pianists and football captains for that matter," he finalizes motioning his hand to Cato and Madge.

I nod in acknowledgement, "Wait… where does that leave Finnick and Johanna?"

He smacks his head with one palm in a mock-hurt expression, "They're both in the last year of school, he is the best swimmer and she is…" he tilts his head to the side, narrowing his eyes slightly, "Well, let's just say that she is a very dear person in our school," he chuckles.

I enjoy talking to him and we keep watching the others movements silently. The rest of the afternoon goes from a silly race to the lake's edge – which Finnick won by far, leaving me and Cato behind in a few seconds – than we ate some cookies that Peeta brought and truth be told, they were amazing. We spend another couple of hours talking about the town, they tell me the things that happen around here and include some memories of their own while doing so, like when Johanna fell from a mechanic bull during a fair, of how Cato was a ruthless bully until Thresh had step up to him and about Peeta and Delly's longtime friendship. All of them have grown up in town, had stories and precious memories, which made me fell a complete outsider, a strange weed in the middle of a blossoming garden.

Fortunately the sun was starting to set, so I had the opportunity to make a lame excuse for me to leave, drying a little with my towel before putting my clothes back on. Everyone says their good-bye to me, even Johanna, and a make a promise with Finnick to hang out with them soon.

I'm about to paddle when Madge shouts for me, coming closer with her pinky and shiny bike that makes my mother's old bike look like junk.

"Hey, mind if I go with you," I nod to her and we ride back to town, enjoying the sounds of the cicadas, "You actually live next to me, a few houses down," she say a few minutes later, we keep going until we stop in front of a huge house with white tiles and massive pillars, the façade is classy and the flowers and bushes in the garden are well trimmed.

"Neat," the word escapes my mouth.

Madge just shakes her head, somewhat shyly, "One of the benefits of being the daughter of the mayor,"

"You're the daughter of the mayor!" I almost shout, she really doesn't look like the part, she wears simple clothes and share hot afternoons in the lake with a bunch of teenagers. I always thought that girls of higher standards would expend their time with fine clothes, hair styles, abnormal diets and other weird random stuff.

"Don't look me like that!" she starts laughing.

"L-Like what?"

"Like I'm an alien or something," her laughing subsides, "I know what you're thinking, 'the mayor's daughter, she must be futile and shallow'" I shake my head vigorously at her, it was easier to admit that in fact I thought that exactly. "It's okay, you're not the first one to assume that, Cato expended years provoking me,"

"Really? You two seem close," I recall the way that they spend time together, he was constantly looking at her.

She ponders before answering, placing her bike next to the garage entrance, "Well, a lot happen in the past year, it's a very long history," she says a bit hesitant.

"You can tell me another time then," I say making my way back to the street, "See you later?"

She just nods in response and I roam back home. I notice that the entire house is dark, no lights are on or whatsoever, realization dawns on me. I don't have the keys.

"Looks like someone got locked out," a voice teases me, is barely comprehensible, as if the owner was groggy or something, "Need help getting inside the house, sweetheart?"

Our neighbor Haymitch looks drunk as a skunk, he is standing in his porch, watching me intently, his words stir a part of me that I thought it was long gone. I sprint for one of the beam in our porch, using the railing to propel myself higher, in one swift move I make my way to our roof, reaching my window I take one last look at Haymitch who is dumbfounded.

"Tell me if you need anything, okay?" I wink at him and slip through the window, just in time to hear Haymitch's laughter.

* * *

I'm half through my kung pao chicken when my mother gives me the news, "So, I got something for you," both Prim and I look curiously at her, mom never gave me anything, not randomly at least. "I got you a job," I look at her in surprise, "Two jobs, actually,"

I choke with a piece of chicken, coughing and drinking water like crazy, "Wow, thanks… I guess, what kind of jobs?"

"One is with Sae, she is an old acquaintance of the family, she runs a small restaurant, she needs a part-time waitress in the afternoon shift, the other it's with Cinna, he is the owner of the only boutique in town, he needs someone to help him in the mornings," she starts picking peppers with her chopsticks, she looks expectantly at me.

Work is something very important to me. When my father died we barely made through the day with my mother received as a nurse, her performance was so poorly while she mourned that she got fired, the only income was my scholarship from the archery club and my part-time job at a small organic farm, where I learned a lot about plants.

So of course I'm thrilled with the prospect of two jobs, "Book them," I say finally, "What about you?"

"Got an interview at the town hospital, they're running short of nurses there," we have the rest of our dinner in amicable silence, with Prim making small conversation here and there.

The house started to look more warm and light, more like home. There was no sobbing or sad memories that night.


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Sorry for the absence, but I really got caught up with the Olympics and then with the Cincinnati' Masters (*huge fan of tennis here*).  
This chapter is somewhat a filler one, although I'm sure that some details will speak volume, especially for the Peeta' fans out there._

_Oh, one more thing. I'm looking for a beta, one that is up for this story and my next one!_

* * *

I keep looking at the boutique's façade, which did not meet any of my expectations.

When you find yourself in such small town you would expect a store with tacky clothes and a very doubtful taste, something like leopard patterns and tons of frilly dresses.

However the '_Capitol Atelier_' is more of a couture house than my earlier assumption. The white bricks in the front give you an idea of simplicity and through the huge front window you can see mannequins displaying light summer dresses and suits, nothing is really over the top, an _open_ sign hanging next to them. My entrance is announced by the chiming of the bell in the front door, the place is ample and bright, a humming from a classic tune echoing from somewhere near. I admire some clothes hanging in racks and mannequins and pacing around I see a few pieces of jewelry being displayed in the counter, an old golden cash register lies on top of it.

After a few seconds a woman with sallow skin appears from an entrance behind the counter, tattoos covering one of her arms, she is wearing an aqua blue make-up that stands out due her dark eyes.

"Good evening, can I help you?" her voice steely and somewhat cold, almost robotic.

"I'm here for the job interview," my voice mirroring my internal uncertainty, "I'm Katniss Everdeen, we talked on the phone earlier," she nods, realization crossing her features.

"Oh, right, of course, follow me, Cinna is waiting for you," she heads for a hallway behind the counter, motioning for me to follow her. Making my way through the corridor the volume of the classic music increases, she opens a sliding door in the middle of the hallway, revealing a gorgeous conservatory. A young man sited in a lounge chair drinking what I assume it's tea.

He looks directly at me, a fine golden eyeliner adorning his features, "Ms. Everdeen, I was expecting you, sit, please," he motions his hand to the chair in front of him.

A bit hesitantly I drop my messenger's bag over one of the chairs around and take the seat showed to me, he seems bemused with something. Remembering that I should please and wow him I shoot a smile, a big gone.

"Please, don't force yourself to do things you're not comfortable with, false personas don't work with me," he says politely, honestly I never thought that there was a way to point out a fake with good manners, he is no fool for what it seems, "I heard that you're a newcomer to our town, must be a rough moment for you, Ms. Everdeen,"

"Not really, it's not my first time here," this could actually be called a false truth, I've been here before but it was so long ago that I barely remember my brief stay, "And I adapt fairly easy,"

He takes a sip from his tea, chamomile tea for what I can say from the smell, "I bet you do, but let's not hurry," he places his cup back on the saucer waving at the woman that greeted me, she disappears in the hallway and seconds later she returns with a tray supporting another cup and a very thick white book, she places both items in front of me, Cinna pours some tea for me while I admire the white book, it has golden letters imprinted on the cover, it's in some foreign language, I assume french.

He gives me an encouraging look and I tentatively open it. It's filled with photos of elegant dresses and runaway models, several fashion pieces are displayed in the book and I realize that this is a test. I'm about to fail miserably.

"Do you know any of these designs?" He says looking amused with my dumbfounded expression. I keep staring blankly at him and with a sonorous gulp I shake my head hesitantly. Expecting the worse I just drop my gaze, until I hear his laugh and the woman's sigh.

"I will prepare her things," the woman says before leaving again.

I dart my look to Cinna, who is smiling gently at me, "I've been looking for an apprentice for years now, seems that I finally found one," he takes another sip from his tea.

Sure enough my confusion is all over my face, "An apprentice, you mean… D-Did I get the…"

"You got the job, Katniss," his voice almost apologetically.

"But I don't understand, I mean, I don't know a thing about famous designers or fancy dresses or sewing for the matter," my voice almost frantic.

He laughs soundly, "Exactly, I not looking for a girl who knows it all, I just looking for someone who wants to learn, or that at least is able to enlighten me," he motions his hand to my cup, reminding me of my tea, I take a sip and feel a lot better, the chamomile and mint infusion soothing my nerves.

"Here, keep this with your life," the woman returns handing me a badge and apron.

"I don't think she'll need the apron, Venia," Cinna states, looking avidly at me, not exactly at _me_, but at my body, scanning it, "I will make her an uniform,"

Venia's eyes widen at his remark and she nods with her mouth agape. Cinna excuses himself and vanished in the back of the garden.

"You should know that he doesn't make a piece in years, this uniform of yours is going to be his comeback," she says confidently, as if he could hear our little secret.

* * *

I start to make my way back to home thinking about my day so far, a huge grin in my face. It's being wonderful so far. Earlier, Sae received me with open arms at her restaurant, excited to have a waitress to replace her oldest granddaughter, who soon will be going to college.

The job itself won't be that hard, she said that most tourists come in late summer and early fall due the fishing. I'll have time to adjust to the rhythm of her restaurant. The other waitress assured me that this is a very nice job and she even offered to help me with the best customers, the one that give good tips.

And Cinna surprised me in a very good way. I was somewhat eager to start working with him, and as a bonus both salaries would help a lot in our family income.

Enjoying the rare cool breeze in the middle of the summer I decide to sit in one of the benches place in the sidewalk, right in front of the town bookstore, the smell of coffee filling the air. Is a welcome one, although, I don't like coffee at all – it just taste bitter and thin to me, but the smell is ironically good. The day is almost over and the moon is already up in the sky, the street lights were beginning to lighten up and the whole scene seemed idyllic.

I was about to stand up and make my way home when Peeta appeared with a small trolley with boxes filled with pastries.

"Katniss, nice to see you around, enjoying the weather?" he beamed at me, something about him made me feel lighter, so the smile that crept in my face was abnormally welcomed.

"Just chilling out, you still working?" he was in his worn out khaki pants and white shirt, the _Mellark Bakery_ apron hanging in his waist. A curious fact was that he sneaker's laces waere double knotted.

"Last delivery of the day, Wiress like to serve fresh pastries to her clients, did you know that there is a small café at the back of the book store?"

"So is from there that the smell is coming," I concluded aloud, he nodded, smile still playing in his lips, "I'm kinda in the mood for some chocolate,"

"Care if I join you for a cup?" he asked right on spot. I felt a bit thrown back, but again, he had some effect over me that made me feel at ease, so I nodded.

We walked in amiable silence through the book store. Shelves and more shelves filled with romances, self-help books, and biographies and a section filled with rare second-handed books. Then we reached the café and Peeta waved at an attendant, they started to talk animatedly, the boy is named Marvel, odd name, but that's what is written in his name tag…

Peeta took a sit in small table for two and waved for me to sit.

Yes, I was pretty aware of how much this looked like a date.

"So tell me, why you look so… put together," he pointed to my clothes.

I was wearing a nice green dress shirt, a pair of black slacks and my leather sandals. Not my usual gear, but I was trying to impress my possible – now soon to be – employers.

I smile sheepishly at him, "Job interview..." his looks surprised, with his blue eyes looking pleased.

"Really? How did it go?" he seems genuinely curious so I can't help but to get excited with my achievements.

"I nailed it, both of them," I say fidgeting the sugar bowl.

"Both? Like two jobs?"

"Yeah, at least until school starts, you're looking at Greasy Sae's new waitress and the Capitol Atelier new… employee," thinking about it, I've no idea of what I'm going to do in the atelier.

"Impressive, makes me feel bad for being just a baker," his playful tone getting the best of me, coaxing easy smiles.

A small brunet serves us, exchanging some pleasantries with Peeta, and soon people start to enter in the small café, chatter fills the place but all that I can hear is Peeta's voice. He tells me about his errands of the day, of how he was chased by a dog while delivering finger foods at a birthday party, gave sweet treats to baby in the bakery and had to help Finnick with a summer fling.

I surprised myself by telling him about my own day and routine, from my morning banter with Prim to the weird interview with Cinna.

People stop by to greet Peeta all the time, even the owner of the place an old lady named Wiress comes to chat with him, her gaze darts between Peeta and I, she nods slowly and whispers something to him, his cheeks become beet red and she leaves with a good natured laugh. Something tells me to not ask what she said to him.

"You are quite popular," I state, everyone until now has nodded and waved at him.

He smiles shyly, dropping his gaze from mine, "I guess I'm just friendly,"

The next question comes from nowhere, "Any girlfriend?" my stomach clenches in anticipation, which is ludicrous, I mean, let's face it, Peeta is handsome, polite, friendly, easy-going, strong, has beautiful eyes and… _he is the boy with the bread_… who in their rightful mind would want to be his…

"No," I fight with all my might to not sigh in relief – the battle against a smile is also very hard – so I just nod slowly, trying to remain in control of my unusual behavior, "To be honest, I never dated anyone, kinda waiting for the right girl,"

My mouth opens, just to close a few seconds later, no words come, but this time I can't suppress the smile.

"Yeah, I know, pretty lame, right?"

I shake my head vehemently, "It's very… honorable, I can't really judge though, since I never dated either," pretty honest of my part, but I feel comfortable enough to share this with him.

Peeta seems dumbfounded and beyond speechless, but he smiles all the same, "We're quite the pair, hum?" he laughs ruefully, almost in a flirty manner. While the word _pair_ rings in my ear.

And I giggle, throwing my loosen hair over my shoulder. _Really, Katniss? _Throwing you hair is like the dating 101 move…

"So, you never found anyone interesting in town?" this is my curiosity getting the best of me.

"Just like you never found anyone interesting before," I almost shiver when he says _before_, like he is talking about the two of us, that I didn't found anyone interesting until him, although, Peeta and I met many years ago, but he doesn't seem to remember me…

"_Touché_," my voice comes quiet.

He leans forward, his face inches from mine, "Do you want to know something interesting about this town?" he whispers to me. It's like he casted a spell, I can feel my cheeks heating up and I lean forward to hear more closely. Something deep inside me stirs, hoping that he doesn't bring a _certain_ memory up.

He turns his face and points to the petite brunet, our waitress, "Her name is Clove, we hang out sometimes, she may not look the part but she can be very spiteful, some say she is bonkers," we look at how she acts with the customers, she is curtly and surly.

While I was genuinely curious of where he was heading with this conversation, another part of me was disappointed. Deep down I was expecting a bold move from his part, bet very, _very_ deep down.

He then points to a table where two girls talk loudly with a boy, all blonde with green emerald eyes, they're beautiful, "The man is Gloss," I chuckle at the name and Peeta manages to suppress a laugh of his own, "and those are his sisters, Cashmere," the older girl, "and Glimmer," the younger one.

"Gloss…Cashmere…Glimmer…" I bit my bottom lip.

"Hey, who am I to judge? Bread name remember?" he chuckles.

"Yeah, but it looks cute on you," the words slip out without warning. My face lit up and I fight the urge to avoid his gaze but Peeta just smiles at me, he definitely does that a lot. "But how is that interesting?"

"So, continuing," he looks at the blondes again, ignoring my question, "Both Gloss and Cashmere were models in the big city, Glimmer aspires to be one, she had a thing with Cato once, let's just say that things end up badly,"

"What? He found her with another guy in his bed?" I joke while admiring the siblings golden skin. You can tell that they have spent some time under the sun.

"In _her_ bed to be more exactly," I look to him in surprise, the '_are you serious?_' look. "I don't know what part was worse, the rampage that Cato caused or the two weeks listening to Fiona Apple in his room,"

That was a bad time to take a sip from my chocolate. I almost spill the whole thing, having to take a napkin to clean my chin. I laugh between coughs and Peeta enjoys me.

"I'm glad that you think that's funny, it took me days to bring him from the dead," he says when my laughter subsides.

"Sorry, it's just that I would never imagine Cato as the broken-hearted boy, is hard to picture," I confess. Cato looked a lot more as a total brute, someone that would act fierce and ruthless, a true bully as Madge said that he was. That's right, she said that he _was_ a bully.

"Well, he used to be quite a handful, bulling some kids in school, getting into fights, an all-around jerk," Peeta laughs at his own words, "You see, I actually met him in one of my wrestling trainings,"

"You wrestle?" I cut him off. He already is amazing, what else Peeta Mellark needed to become perfect? All that is left is for me to find out is that he wants to have kids and settle down in a cozy house with white fences, or that he is one hell of a cook, or maybe both…

"I do, when you live in such small town you have to find things to kill time...well, resuming, Cato showed up in one of the training looking for trouble and we end up fighting, he got a dislocated shoulder that day," Peeta looks nostalgically, I wonder if that happened years ago.

"You dislocated his shoulder?" my train of thought coming very slowly.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! He broke my leg first!" he says raising his hand in a mock-defense.

"He broke your leg?! What kind of school is that?" I asked between laughs, but in the corner of my mind I make a mental note to bring a knife to school just in case.

He laughs with me before answering, "We kinda got carried away back then, my leg in the other hand still hurts, the bone was broke in three parts, Cato apologizes for it every time he gets drunk, never been a great runner ever since," he say confidentially.

"So, aside from crazy brunettes and sleazy blondes, what else do we have?" I try to keep the conversation going.

"Let's see," his eyes scan the room, finding Marvel attending some customers, "Marvel, over there has some background too, he is friends with Cato, they had a fight a few days before the whole Glimmer incident, Marvel tried to warn about her… not-appropriate behavior, but Cato didn't listen," Peeta folds his arms and leans against the back of his chair, "Glimmer, Marvel, Clove and Cato used to be a gang of sorts, at some point that simply couldn't stand to be near each other,"

I look at the three of them, Clove and her sullen nature, Glimmer squealing at her siblings' conversation and Marvel quiet but notorious presence. I try to imagine Cato, at least the Cato that I know, bonding with them. They all seem so different and so oblivious to each other and you could say that they not even know their '_old friends_'. The worst part is that this town is so freaking small that they are, aside from Cato, in the exactly same place, Clove and Marvel even work together.

"We used to call them the 'Careers', the wealthiest among us, aside from Finnick of course,"

This takes my attention, "wealthiest?"

He nods, "See, Cato Lician, Clove Malaku, Marvel Rogers and Glimmer Sommers, are somewhat royalty around here. Their families alone have more money than the whole town together."

"Impressive," I nod my head slowly, is nice of Peeta to tell me more about the town, of how things work around here. But a detail is left in the dark, "And why on earth they're working at a café?"

"Clove, because she can't stands boredom, as for Marvel… I've no idea," he spends some time admiring the two of them before speaking, "People can be weird,"

"So, how you became acquaintances with them?"

He pauses, letting a nervous laugh escape his lips, "Oh, well, we live in the same neighborhood," he runs a hand through his hair.

"Do you? I guess this means you're one of the privilege ones, right? Your _hi__ghness_," he chuckles at my teasing, but doesn't seem very genuine.

"My mother would love that," hurt echoes in his words, and the levity seems to die a bit from our talk. Feeling uncomfortable I decide to put things back on track in the best way I can.

"So, Finnick is a _career_ too?"

He sighs, maybe in relief, maybe in exasperation, I can't really tell, "Not officially, but the Odair's are a notorious family around these bands, they rule the seafood business in the county. No wonder Finnick is a merman himself,"

"He does look like the part, but you not so shabby either. I saw that somersault in the lake!" I try to ruffle his ego, failing miserably by the way that his face wrinkles.

"Don't fool yourself, I don't know how to swim," he says timidly.

I tilt my head to the side, "Really? I was sure that…"

"You do realize that the lake is not that deep, right? And I did spend the whole time in the shallow part, that sault… I was actually… never mind," he trails off.

"Well, you fooled me, that move sure impressed me,"

He beams at me and I notice how empty the café is now, aside from our table just two more are occupied, Clove cleaning the vacant tables. "Good thing I didn't got drowned then," he states.

A sudden though hits me and I snort, "It wouldn't be a problem, pretty sure Finnick would have done CPR on you," he rolls his eyes dramatically and banter his pale lashes. We crack laughing.

"I wouldn't be so lucky," he laughs. When we pull ourselves together I decide to take off.

"I should be going, it's getting late," my own voice betraying me, showing my stupid disappointment for leaving, this doesn't go unnoticed by Peeta, he smirks and I can help but blush.

We pay the bill and leave the store together. The night is warm and somewhat airless, the cicada's song echoing from far away. It is one perfect night of summer.

"Do you need a ride home?" Peeta asks me, I raise one brown at him.

"Why? Are you going to carry me in your trolley?" I laugh heartily at him. He visibly blushes at my joke, but remains neutral.

"I was thinking in something more practical," right on cue a jeep stops, the brakes screeching soundly, two blonde boys look up to us, "Katniss, meet my brothers," Peeta says tiredly, "Do you guys mind giving Katniss a ride?" he asks before the two of them even open their mouths.

The one in the driver's seat shoots Peeta a devilish smile before saying, "Anything for your girlfriend," I blush at his comment, and so does Peeta, but he seems impassive and opens the back door for me – the fact that he doesn't deny takes my attention, not that I _really_ care.

I scoot so he can sit next to me and I'm introduced to the rest of the Mellark boys.

"Katniss, this is Rye," the older boy grins at me, hands on the wheel, he is wearing a black tank top that show his muscles, his hair is long and is being held by bandana in a messy style, "and the other is Luchi," the one that seems to be the middle brother looks through his glasses to acknowledge me, I smile tightly at him in response. He is the complete opposite from Rye though, wearing a simple blue shirt, his hair is short and is neatly combed.

I explain to them where I live and Rye nods making the jeep tires fume.

"So, Rye, Luchi and Peeta… your parents sure have a thing for bread," I whisper to him. We're so close that our arms brush against each other, eliciting goosebumps from my part.

"What did I tell you, I don't judge anyone's name," he says shaking his head ruefully. We both laugh, and Rye and Luchi seem amused and curious about us. Rye stops in the front of my house and I sigh, ready to listen about '_how I did not call and left everyone worried_'.

"So I guess this is good bye," I say while turning to see Peeta nervous face, is he okay?

"Yeah…" Peeta drags the word, then Rye clears his throat and Luchi mumbles something. Peeta leaps out of the car, and opens the door for me to get out. Weird antics but I don't say a thing, is nice, very _gentlemanly_ of his. He walks me to my door and I definitely can't help but feel that this is a date.

"So…" I begin.

"So…" he echoes.

This is silly, we just had coffee – chocolate in my case –, is not a big deal, is it?

"_Would you_…" we say at the same time, we let out a nervous laugh at the same time too.

"You first," I tell him, biting the inside of my cheek. _Stop making a fool of yourself!_

He keeps looking at his feet, stealing glances at his brothers, "Would you like… I mean, are you interested in… I don't know, do something tomorrow…Sorry, you're probably have something more interesting to do…"

"No," escape my lips. _Get a hold of yourself, Katniss!_

"Of course not, sorry to bother you, good bye-"

"No, I mean," my voice a bit frantic, cutting him off, "I don't have anything to do tomorrow," he looks confused, "Free," I point to myself.

"Oh! So, would like to go to the movies, maybe," his voice filled with nervousness, of course that it took me a few moments to notice this, the butterflies in my stomach were very distracting.

I nod, a little slower than necessary, he beams at me again. Peeta smiles too much.

"It's a date then,"

And with that he leaves me speechless standing alone in my porch.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I sincerely apologize for the rawness of this chapter; the romance is ramping too fast for my liking, because I do want things to sound real, and besides I the one who writes so I can do pretty much whatever I want!_

_Thank you guys so much for the lovely reviews, your feedback is being amazing and I hope that they keep coming; reviews make the writing easier and inspiration more fluid._

* * *

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

What is that sound?

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

Whose phone's is that?

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

"Katniss, could you answer the phone, is in the living room!" my mother voice booms from the bathroom.

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

What the hell was she talking about? A groan escape my lips, the ringing and shouting were not going to leave me alone if the damned phone – which is complete novelty in the house – don't stop!

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

Whoever it was, it was persistent; I've to give that. I make my way downstairs, almost tripping at the last step, the morning barely sending light through the windows. The phone resides above the side table next to the couch in the middle of the room.

_Ring. Ring – Beep!_

"Hello?" my voice coming hoarse and dry, the very true epitome of my sleepy state.

"_Hey!_" Peeta's voice, sweet and warm even on the phone. It's not like he can see me, but unconsciously my hand runs through my tangled, disheveled hair.

"Peeta, is…" a good peek at the clock at the corridor tells me everything, "… five in the morning, aside from the rooster only my mother is up,"

"_I am so s-sorry to wake you! I am really sorry!_" he chokes out the words. I can even visualize his flushed face and trembling hands. I smile at the thought.

"So, aside from dragging me out of bed, what else do you want?" my harsh words come in a soft tone that I don't use much often, usually only Prim hears it.

"_It's that I've to work soon, and I realize that we __didn't set the time for a date tonight,_"

Works like a magic trick, my entire body snaps, mind finally wide awake.

"Yeah…about that, I am kind of jumbled until six, is that okay…?" I linger at the last part, feeling somewhat torn, parting wanting him to say _yes_, the other begging for him to say _no_.

"_Perfect, my shift at the bakery ends at five! Should I pick you up at your house?_"

"Pick me up in what? In yours trolley?" I chuckle a bit, he laughs tiredly.

"_Very funny, again, I was thinking about something mo__re practical, like my motorbike,_" that takes me by surprise. Peeta Mellark riding a bike, just imagining the scene makes me shiver.

"A bike does sound better than a trolley, lacks in the originality, but still," he laughs soundly and I smile to myself, then it hits me, "But I think that it would be better for you to pick me at work, sounds easier," actually it sound like a good way to hide this date from Prim and mom.

"Oh, that's okay, it's even better, the atelier is very close to the bakery," he ponders.

Pondering actually leads me to a question, "Hey, how did you knew my phone number? I didn't know that we had telephone in the first place!"

"_Your sister gave it to me last night; she left a message on my facebook,_" that little sneaky girl! And here I was thinking that Peeta was some kind of stalker, just to find out that my sister is the stalker one.

"Sorry about that," my cheeks are heating up fast, "She is always up to find new friends, and to embarrassing me," at that moment my mom descent the stairs, looking curiously at me when she notices my light demeanor, but shrugs it off, heading towards the kitchen.

"_Nah, she is funny and very sweet, although she has a taste for childish emoticons,_" she really does, in Prim's messages twelve words out of ten are emoticons, "_So six it is, I have to go now, see you later,_"

"Later…"

_Beep._

* * *

Working at Sae's restaurant, The Hob, reveals itself as good avocation. People in this town are pleasant and always leave a good tip, especially the ones with kids. Kids that by the way happens to be my weak spot, I end up giving free ice creams to all the children that appear during my shift. Sae shakes her head from the register, smiling ruefully though, and when a small girl, probably five smiles toothless at me, thanking me for the chocolate ice cream, my heart melts a bit.

Prim and I used to have ice cream with our parents on Sundays back in the day.

Letting the heartache sinks in the corner of my mind I check the clock one more time, my shift has definitely ended. I go behind the counter and take my apron off, I'm about to say goodbye to Sae when she appears with a plate, one of her homemade meals smoking hot, releasing a delicious smell all over the place, my stomach growls at the sight of food.

"Where you think you're going? No employer of mine is going to work with a hungry stomach!" she declares, placing the plate over the counter, a minute later Lavina – my co-worker – appears with a plate of her own, the same content, a juicy steak with mushroom rice pilaf and fresh salad. I practically inhale the food and accept the orange juice that Sae serve us.

I lounge at the restaurant for about fifteen minutes before making my way to Cinna's atelier. With my belly full it's easier to focus on my expectations towards my other job, of the people that I will work along with, or how exhaustive it can get there. Questions that my mind has not formulate until now.

The clouds are blocking the sun, giving a break from the stinging sensation on my skin. My natural olive complexion was tanned more than ever and my dark brown hair has gotten brighter. Prim brought a potent sun blocker, but I always forget to use it, a few weeks ago that would not have been an issue; my old town was forever humid and cloudy. Here in this new place everything seems hotter and lighter, somehow the sun seems to shine more intensely around here, so the currently hazy sky is a blessing in disguise.

The bell at the front door announces my arriving and Cinna appears in a hurry at the door behind the counter, "Oh, finally! I've been waiting for you all day long!" he exclaims loudly, a smile already plastered in his face. He is holding a measuring tape, his clothes also take my attention, he is in a basic white tee shirt and pair of denim jeans, his feet bare.

"I actually early," the clock says that I am indeed, sixteen minutes early, "You should have called m-me…!" I stop talking when he leaps over the counter in a swift move and start to take the measurement of my waist line, "Mr. Cinna!"

He pulls away, brows creased in concentration, lips pursed, "Call me just Cinna, okay?" I nod, and he restarts to take my numbers, when he is done he pass by the counter – like a grown man this time – and disappears in the end of the hallway, while I stand there, in the entrance, looking for any directions. _This is my job? This can't be it…_

"_Katniss, come over here!_" Cinna's voice comes from the end of the hallway that I passed by the day before.

I'm not comfortable leaving the store unattended but I hesitantly walk there, entering in a spacious room, with big celling windows and a few racks with disheveled clothes. I find my boss, which at this point I consider a complete mad-man, working fervently in a sewing machine, a red piece being stitched.

"How can I help you?" simply the best, and only, question that my mind was able to formulate.

He doesn't answer, just keeps working, and then a minute passes. Then two minutes. Then five minutes. Then I stop counting because it feels like eternity. I just keep standing there, admiring the few traces of Cinna's body of work that are scattered all across the room , like his taste for warm colors, the curious designs displayed in a mural and the superb elegancy of all the clothing.

"Here, try this on!" he announces with a sudden stop from the sewing machine. He turns in his chair handing me the red piece that I recognize now as a dress, he shakes it towards me, "Come on, try it!"

"I'm not really following here…"

"I've been doing this piece for months now, I think that it suits you," not a very detailed explanation, but probably the best that I'm going to get. I take the dress from his hands and he points me a dressing room hidden behind a curtain. This job keeps getting weirder and weirder.

The dress fits me like a glove, it is a one sleeve dress, the embroidery on the top along with the subtle draping in the skirt of it cause a striking effect, when I reappear to Cinna he shoots me a smile, that quickly fades.

"Do you like it?" I nod vigorously at him, he smiles returns with full-force, "Great! I've a whole sketch book with pieces that I want you to look at it," I tilt my head to the side, utterly confused; he doesn't answer my silent question though.

He brings the so called sketch book. The thing was huge, like '_Agatha Christie's Miss Maple_' kind of huge; it was a daunting task to check all the sketches. One by one I analyzed, from floral dresses to sharp tuxedos, I scrutinized all the beautiful doodles that Cinna created. Marking with a red pen the disliked one, and a green marker for the pretty ones.

Another look at the clock warns me about my date, "Cinna, this will take any longer?" my eyes still trained on the minutes pointer, I had exactly one hour until Peeta shows up.

"Do you have something to do, after you're done here?" he asked casually, not really denoting any emotion in his tone.

I nodded, "I have a date," the words slips out sounding foreign to me, just like the idea itself. He looked surprise at first, but his whole demeanor assumed a different expression, a wicked expression.

"Come with me," he started browsing through the rack of clothes in the room, he took a pale pink dress and a pair of flats and handed to me, "Hurry up, we have a lot to do," he pushed me inside the dressing room again and I quickly changed my outfit.

"Cinna, what exactly we're doing?"

"I'm going to help you to make an impression," he encircled me, his eyes traveling from my hair to my toenails, "We have to do something about that," he says while pulling at the end of my braid.

"Cinna, please, this is not necessary, I'm sure that Peeta won't even notice…"

"Peeta?" he asks, cutting me off, "As in Peeta Mellark, the baker's son?" for crying out loud! Or this town is really small or Peeta is the most popular boy around, "This now, more than ever, requires a special treatment,"

"W-what?!" I stammer, while he pushes me out of the room, we find Venia attending some clients, she tries to speak with Cinna but he waves at her, she just shoots a confused look at my direction and I barely have time to shrug before he shoves me to outside, "Where are we going?"

"To see a friend of mine, she loves a challenge," it's all the explanation that he gives me. We keep walking in silence until we reach a beauty parlor, which unlike the atelier, is very flashy with a certain 80's vibe to it. The moment we step inside my ears are assaulted by a loud generic pop song, women are everywhere and the smell of nail polish fills my nostrils.

The whole scenario is very chaotic, with twizzles being brandished, hairdryers blaring and the constant chatter is deafening, all seems too much, until a woman with what I can only assume as a pink wig, greets Cinna.

"Cinna, my dear," they exchange kisses, the classic French greeting, "What can I do for you today?" she doesn't even acknowledge me, which does not mean that I didn't notice her. It's almost impossible though, her metallic lipstick, fake eyelashes and unnatural blush make her a walking allegory.

"Effie, always a pleasure to see you, however the one in the needs of your service is Katniss," he places his hands gently over my shoulders, pushing me slightly to his front, "She has a date in only half an hour, could you make this little miracle happen?"

Miracle? Do they forget that I'm standing right here?

She shoots me an inquisitive stare, her mouth opens, and closes, and opens again, "Flavius, Octavia!" they appears in matter of seconds, a man with a funny orange hair, and a chubby woman with green highlights in hers, "Beauty base zero on this one, and make it quick," she snaps her fingers and they practically shove me into a high chair in the middle of the room.

From the mirror I can see Effie and Cinna talking, one in a while stealing glances at me, while Flavius undoes my braid and straightens my hair, and Octavia decorates my nails. The oddly pair inquires me about things such as my old town, what do I like in town, if I'd seen anything interesting, and if I had any plans. Monosyllabic answers do the trick.

"You have a date already? You don't waste time, do you?" Flavius teases when I tell them about the reason behind my sudden appearance; Octavia is avid for personal information just as much as him, so I try to keep things to myself. When they are done Effie appears behind my chair.

"What nice pair of lips," she takes a lipstick from the counter in front of us and swiftly puts on my lips, it's a natural rosy color that makes me look a lot younger, "Oh, Cinna, she looks adorable, who is the young man?"

"Peeta Mellark," he says proudly, or at least is that how he sounds.

Her eyes widen, "P-Peeta? The baker's son?" she darts her eyes between Cinna and I. Apparently Peeta is a celebrity around here, "Well, well, well, seems like you're the one,"

My brows shoot right up, "What do you mean?"

"He is the dream of every girl in town, but he never showed any interest in none of them, or even any boys for that matter!" she laughs with Cinna, "We never saw this day coming,"

"What day?" I dare to ask.

Cinna approaches then, leaning close to me, "The day that the girl able to stole his heart would appear," he whispers in my ear.

* * *

I keep pacing back and forth in front of the atelier. It was really a miracle, in matter of minutes my hair was straight, nails polished, make up done and I am neatly dressed, and with minutes to spare before Peeta comes. Cinna and Venia keep looking at me from the atelier window. While Effie, Octavia and Flavius from the parlor.

It's awful.

Then the engine's sound starts to blare from the end of the street. Just like the dream of any schoolgirl. Black helmet, white tee shirt, dark denim jeans, leather boots and a ferocious motorbike, Peeta Mellark is, indeed, the ultimate dream boy.

"Hey," he says stopping his bike in front of the atelier, I glance backwards to see Cinna and Portia pretending to not see anything. Peeta hops from the bike, walking towards me.

"Hey," then, out of the blue, I feel self-conscious. Not exactly out of the blue, but when Peeta's blue eyes take in my figure, all the production that Cinna and Effie made.

"You look…"

"Silly, I know," is barely a whisper from my part.

"I was going to say beautiful, but if you feel silly I can only assume that I look beyond ridiculous," he jokes, countering my awkwardness with grace. The smile that form on my lips is totally unexpected, is not the first time that a boy says that I am beautiful, but it is the first that makes me believe in such statement, and that is something. The other boy that said that was Gale.

"Yeah, you do look ridiculous," my tongue itches, the words _ridiculously handsome, _trying to escape. He smiles while hesitatingly taking my hand, so I intertwine our fingers to reassure him, he leads me to the bike, taking another helmet from underneath the seat.

"Come on, we still have to choose the movie," he sits and I feel all the blood in my body concentrate in my face when I press my body to his back, encircling my arms around his torso – which is toned and defined, not that I cared – just to steady myself, "Have you ever ride a bike?"

"It's my first time," I feel stupid, but who was I kidding? I may be a good archer, a brave girl in the woods, but motorbikes scared me to death. Mother never allowed me to ride one.

"Don't worry, I will be gentle as possible," he teases, I smack a hand in his back and he laughs soundly, igniting the motor, a few roars from the bike and we take off, my stomach clenching, my grip getting tighter around his body. And maybe is the wind, but I'm sure enough that I heard a sigh come from his lips.

Thankfully the ride doesn't take long. Soon we are in front of theater, a small line already forming in front of the ticket office. Peeta parks in the vacancy at the side of the building and I hand him the white helmet, and while he puts the helmets back in the compartment I run my hands over my hair to be sure that is in place. This whole date thing is getting the best of me.

"So? What movie are we watching today?" the word _today_ hits my core, is he already thinking about the next time?

I pretend to not care for his implication and look at the titles displayed in the posters, quickly excluding the foreign romance '_Les Fo__llies et le Désiré_' – that probably contains an uncountable amount of nudes scenes – are also screening the new Wes Craven movie, with the title of '_The Claw_', that promises a movie to die for, I rule this one out.

There is also the a comedy from Adam Sandler, this time he goes in time travel machine and ends up being paired up with Katherine Heigl and then… I rule this one out even before finishing the synopses.

And the last resort is an action movie starring The Rock, and for some reason I think that Peeta won't mind watching, "Let's go for the '_Steel Punch_', sounds promising," he seems surprised by my choice, but doesn't say a thing, probably afraid that I would change my mind and force him to watch Adam Sadler's comedy…

When we reach the box office Peeta insists in buying both of our tickets, in return I pay for the popcorn and soft drinks, he carries the tray for me and we make our way to the movie.

We end up sitting in the center row; right in the middle of the theater, in my humble opinion is the best place in all theaters. The lights dim in few minutes and the trailers begun, one takes my attention, is about a girl whose father disappears and she has to find him, otherwise she loses her house where she lives with her small siblings and sick mother. Then the next trailer starts with an explosion and I lose my interest.

Halfway through the movie Peeta finally decides to make the _move_, the classic yawn followed by the stretching of arms that leads to his hand in my shoulders, I try so hard to suppress the laughter that a snort escapes, people shushing me.

From the corner of my eye I see him smiling and a smirk forms in my face. He is so damn corny.

* * *

"That was awful! I mean the guy got shot twice and stabbed in the shoulder but managed to kill an entire terrorist organization with just his mechanical arms?!" Peeta fumes, completely disappointed with the plot of what could be the greatest movie of my life – or at least until the sequence…

"But he had to rescue his daughter, Peeta!" I shout feign exasperation, enjoying his antics, "And yes, maybe that scene with him singing in the middle of the forest didn't make any sense, but still, he had guts!" and now the laughter takes over.

He chuckles in disbelief but he starts laughing with me, "I don't even want to talk about that one!" he says between laughs

"So, where are we going now?" I ask when we reach his motorbike, he is about to answer when a buzzing sound interrupts him. Peeta takes a cellphone from his pocket and roll his eyes at the device, but answer the call in the end.

"Hi…yeah…uh-hum…sure…be right there…okay…bye," he puts the phone into his jeans pocket and sighs, "Sorry, I'll have to go, morning shift at the bakery, Luchi is feeling sick," I bit the inside of my cheek, all good things come to an end…

"Oh, okay… that is no problem," _liar, _my subconscious screams at me.

"I'm really sorry," he apologizes with such sad look that impossible for me to even consider no forgive him, "But we can go out another time! I mean, go out again, sometime, if you…"

I cut him off by placing my index finger in his lips, "I would like that," his lips curl into a smile, "You have no idea how much I adore to wake up before dawn just to answer your calls," I tease.

He smiles sheepish at me, "How come you don't have a cellphone?" he asks indignant.

Honestly a cellphone seems like a luxury to me, mother and Prim keep saying that I should buy one, I just never summoned the will to do so, "I don't know, if you want to talk to me all that you have to do is find me," I say nonchalantly.

"You say like that was easy," Peeta mumbles, an edge in his voice.

I swallow the question that immediately cloud my mind, "Well, you know where to find me now," he finds my gaze and we just stare at each other for a moment.

This is it, now is the time that he is going to bring that memory to surface.

He doesn't.

We hop in the bike and this time my arms encircle his waist with no hesitation, and I allow myself to breathe his natural scent, a mixture of cinnamon and dill, and it's growing on me.

He pulls right in front of my house, I take the helmet off and hand to him, while he takes his off as well. "So," he mutters.

"So," I echo.

He looks at the point behind my shoulder and nods solemnly. I crane my head and spot Haymitch with a bottle in his hand by the porch of his house. He knows Peeta too, great…

"We could grab something to eat, maybe Sunday…" he lingers the words, waiting for me to conclude.

"Sunday sounds nice," with an interval of a day between our dates it gives me time to recover from Effie's beauty treatment. As a last act of braveness I move forward and plant a kiss on his cheek.

He beams at me, "Then Sunday it is," he puts the helmet back on and takes off, leaving an unsettling sensation of emptiness in my heart.

I take slow steps in the way back to the house, Haymitch's eyes are following me; I try to ignore his teasing whistles. When I open the front door I can see that pretty much everything is finally arranged and put in place, no empty boxes or bubble wrap scattered across the floor.

"Katniss!" Prim screeches from upstairs, when I close the door behind me she is basically falling in the stairs, "You won't believe who called after you!" I stare at her, waiting for the rest of it, "You should buy a cellphone, who is sixteen and does not have one? I mean it ludi-"

She stops dead on her tracks when she sees me.

"You look like… _a girl_," she blurts out, and I stare at her.

"Really? It took you all this time to find out?" I tease her, a bittersweet taste in my mouth as aftermath from the joke.

"You know that I didn't meant like that," she says sharply, "Look at this dress, and your hair! Is straight and glowing, and what about this dress?!" she says in complete amazement.

"Enough, spit it out, who called me?" I say a bit annoyed with her, she constantly says that I don't dress like a girl, and my clothes are too muzzy and that my braid is boring and whatsoever.

She pouts a bit and finally says, "Gale,"

* * *

_Hope that all your expectations have been satiated! Yep, Gale is in it, and yeah the things are going to heat up, and yep Katniss is a bit OOC here, but not for too long._

_Also in other news, you guys can follow me on t__umblr (_teawsugar)_ and keep a close look at all my stories (with occasional sneak peeks), and I'm playing low now, so, depending of the amount of reviews I may update by saturday or sunday (maybe, this is not a promise) the updates have been too long in between._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: First of all, sorry for the delay, tons of things are happening these past few days, one of those being the prompt for Everlark week that I did.  
Second, thank you guys so much for the reviews, and I know that summer is over, but that won't interfere here._

_I wasn't pleased with the way Katniss was turning out here, it was getting way too OOC for me, hope that things get back on track now. And there are so many characters in this chapter!_

* * *

"Who are you?" she doesn't respond, just keep staring right back at me. The foggy mirror from our bathroom is blurring the background, the exception being the path that I cleared with my bare hand. I can see that we share similar traits such as the same hair, same skin, same eyes, the entire body. But I don't recognize her, this free spirited girl that goes out with a handsome boy that she barely knows, that has a normal relationship with her mother, that has two good jobs and helps her little sister to learn how to ride a bike.

Maybe I stayed back home with Gale and no one bothered in telling me…

He was ecstatic in talking with me last night. Returning his call was the first thing that I did after Prim told me about his attempt of contact. Just hearing his voice made all the nostalgia hit me like a punch, tears gathered but I did not allow any of them to come out.

Gale talked about how much Posy missed me, how Hazelle longed for a good talk with my mother and how the members of the archery club at school were devastated about my departure. Despite all of that, summer was good to him too, he got a new job – something to do with logistic – and he also got his first car, actually restored his first car, an old GTO that once belonged to his late father.

I couldn't help but smile with his news, but deep down I knew something within was off. Years of companionship helped us to know each other better than anyone.

"Gale, what's wrong?" my voice came with the usual certainty that his presence provided me.

When he hesitated in answering me back my nerves tensed, "It's nothing, Katniss…" if there was something that we both knew was that if he called me by my name something _was_ wrong, realizing his mistake he corrected himself, "Actually there is something,"

I sighed, the last time that I heard him like this was at our farewell.

"I miss you," those three simple words almost made me crumble, and the tears came back with full force, demanding twice the effort to not let them escape.

My words betrayed me, "Good bye, Gale," and the phone was back to its base unit.

Again, she just keeps staring at me, looking more closely now there are subtle differences, physically ones. My olive skin seems more tanned, my dark hair is in a brighter shade of brown, my cheeks are not so hallow as before. Maybe I have to accept that I have changed. I did moved on, and the old Katniss was left behind, maybe for good.

I leave the bathroom and the cool air hits me, the summer in this town is definitely hard to predict, some days are too hot, while as others are pleasant enough. The latter being the case today. I search for a plain shirt that I used a couple a days ago and a pair of sweat pants, and not really looking forward to lace my shoes I pick a pair of rubber flip-flops that mother received from one of her patients.

The morning shift at The Hob was pretty uneventful, consisting in Sae muttering about how things are slow for this time of the month, she decided to free us early and Lavinia and I were more than grateful to her for doing so. The only activity in my agenda was Cinna, who would probably question me about my date. Honestly, I don't think that I would handle another round of questions about Peeta. Mother and Prim teamed up at lunch, and I became their target.

* * *

"Here," she slams a small package in the table, making Prim and I wince in response, "No more, '_I lost track of time_' and '_He is just a friend_'" I stare at my lap, embarrassed with my awful excuses for coming late and not telling that I was out and about with a boy. It was never an issue before, when I was hanging out with Gale, but when she told me that she watched me kissing Peeta – in the cheek, for the record – she lost it.

I end up hearing a two hour long speech about teenage pregnancy, STD's and how to take things slow with boys, the dread that coursed through my veins when she almost brought '_the talk_' of how babies are born was extreme. The dread however was replaced by shame when I had to declare that I was still a virgin…

"Open it," she says through gritted teeth, my eyes flick to hers, only confirm my assumption, she is pissed. No matter how angry she is, I'm glad that I could disrupt her natural calm, mom being angry means that she cares about us. She nods towards the small box and I see that is a cell phone, a cheap and basic one, but a cell phone nonetheless.

I open it and take the small device in my hands; it's nothing too fancy or flashy. Its jet black with a medium size screen and glassy keyboard, a tiny camera located behind with the logo of the Asiatic company.

"Thanks, mom," my voice coming weak and almost frail, I'm walking on eggshells around her. I turn the thing on and wait a few minutes until the digital menu pops, setting my preferences and time is pretty quick and the entire interface is very intuitive.

"The man in the store said that was perfect for people who are clueless about this stuff, he has set these '_apps_' or whatever, he said that they are pretty trendy with teenagers," mother explains somewhat shy, if there is a trait that we share is our ignorance with technology. It took her two months to get used to her electric toothbrush.

Prim looks over to take a peek at my new phone, "Oh, you have the WhatsApp, and Facebook and Twitter are already installed, neat!" she squeals, somewhere during our lifetimes Prim learned some new dialect, because I didn't comprehended a thing that she just said, "Here let me get the Instagram and Skype," she snatches the phone from my hands, and I go back to my pancakes.

"So, I'll be at the hospital until midnight, there are two minor operations scheduled for tonight, there is food on the fridge and I'm leaving money so you can buy a pizza for dinner," she takes her coat and gives me and Prim a last look before saying goodbye and a warning about having boys at home. We hear the engine starting and the, now, common sound of our car making its way out of the garage.

Prim nearly jumps at me, "So, tell me everything!"

"W-What are you talking about?" my feigned ignorance muffled with the half chewed beef in my mouth.

"I'm talking about Peeta! I swear, when he showed up in that bike I almost fainted," my eyes widen and I choke, when did my thirteen year old sister started to show interest in boys? "But I gotta say, just a kiss on the cheek? What are you, nine?"

"Prim! What the heck?! Have you ever kissed a boy?" so, yeah, I did tried to change the subject with this lame line, still, I hoped that it worked, and sincerely hoped for a negative answer from her part too.

She rolls her eyes, "It's kinda late for that now," she says nonchalantly and my heart sinks. My little duck's innocence… "Don't you try to get away from this, so how was your date?"

I sigh; "It was fun…" my voice trails off.

"Fun…" she echoes.

"Fine! It was nearly perfection, he is a true gentleman, and he is very funny and easy-going and yes I did get scared in the end, so I just… I didn't… I couldn't kiss him, because…"

"Because you never kissed anyone," she finishes for me. I'm dumbfounded, everyone back in our old town thought that Gale and I were more than friends, he even hinted wanting something more than friendship, however I never considered following that path. Due this, no one ever bothered to ask me things like that, to the outsiders Gale and I were a couple, and frankly I never cared for such mistake.

Yet, something about Peeta was different; I was starting to consider him a friend, but not only a friend, not like Gale…

"Look, we just had a good time and besides, I barely know him, we have been here for like what? Two weeks? I mean, yeah he is funny, and handsome, and polite, but still… and maybe he is not looking for a romantic relationship, and I may not even be his type..."

"Katniss," she interrupts me, "You're rambling,"

"Sorry…" I mumble.

She shrugs, a grin playing on her lips, "It's cute, your first real crush, I say real because that thing of yours with Gale was just sad,"

"Sad? How come?" true curiosity coating my words.

She looks at me with a tiredly expression, "Look, we all know how oblivious you can be," I wonder who the _we_ in this sentence is, "But back then, Gale kept looking at you in this… way," I tilt my head to the side, "Well, if you didn't figure this one out, there is no hope for human kind,"

I search for any signs of a sudden change in Gale's dichotomy with me. He acted strangely in my last days in our previous home, saying how much he cared for me, and how he wished things were different, and… there was something more…

"I'm sorry if I am not sharp and sassy as you," she laughs at me, "It's just that I don't know how to act with Peeta,"

"Be yourself; it shouldn't be so hard," she says matter-of-factly, "He is different though," her tone changing, a little more serious.

She has no idea of what happened, all those years ago, and yet she can tell that there is something about him.

"However, if there is a thing you should be sorry is for not having scored last night,"

"Prim!" she is saved by the bell, literally, "Are you expecting someone?" she shakes her head with a nervous look, "Maybe mom forgot something,"

"She has the keys," she remarks, our brows furrow in synchrony and I dare to spy through the peephole.

"Madge?" I open the door surprised. She has a nervous look, and I can't tear my gaze from her dress, which has a very adorable sailor collar, white neckerchief and pleated skirt, "Come in," I blurt out when she keeps fidgeting with her tie at our front door.

She takes tentative steps and make her way to our living room, Prim appears and waves at her, "Hi, are you Katniss's friend?"

"Yes, you must be her sister," her voice is shaking, almost literally.

Prim beams at her, "Yep, I'm Primrose, but everyone calls me Prim, nice to meet you," they shake hands and Madge blushes a little.

"I'm Madge," she responds timidly, I decide to barge in and see what she wants.

"So, what brings you to our humble home?" she seems eager for some reason.

She pulls a slip of paper from one of her pockets, "This is an invitation, my father keeps saying that I need to be more… social,"

I decide to read aloud, "Pool Party, this Saturday at 4:00p.m. at the Undersee's – No kids allowed," I stare blankly at her and she just shrugs.

"Johanna and Finnick are organizing, they pretty much invited everyone, but I wanted to invite you personally," her frankness startling me a bit, "I don't know why, but I feel at ease around you,"

I smile at her, "Me too, maybe it's because you, on contrary of some people, like to wear clothes," we laugh at the hinted mention of Johanna and she says her good-bye, but not before dropping a new.

"Oh, before I forget, he will be there too," she winks and makes her way under the morning sun.

Maybe I can stop by to see how the party is going…

"Let me get this straight… you kissed him in the cheek?" the astonishment in his voice palpable, Venia watches with a stunned expression on face, "Is that correct?"

I nod at him, for some reason the indignation coming from Cinna is almost reproachful, "I got nervous," but he was no longer interest in listening to me, he was back to his sketch book and I felt completely helpless, "What are you doing?"

"A bathing suit of course," he grins at me and all the help that I need is being imprinted in that sketch book, or at least is that what he thinks, "I rather see an employee of mine wearing a unique look that some avulse white swimsuit," the blush was inevitable, "Oh, you do have a white swimsuit," yeah, my face was an open book to him.

"It's the only one that I have, and is a two piece suit," he grimaces, probably minimalist wasn't in his plans for what it seemed, "But feel free to design something elaborate, I just have to remind you that it will end up underwater," I reply nonchalantly.

"Getting inside the pool is the least that you can do…" it felt like a sarcastic remark about my date…

* * *

My shift at boutique ends and I make my way back home under the twilight and with a brand new swimming suit in a bag. I take my time to sightsee around, explore new places that I hadn't the time to know, like the butchery – a nice piece of venison displayed in the front – and the local television studio, a huge outdoor with Caesar Flickerman, the channel's news anchor with pearly white smile, located above the entrance.

I see the school for the first time. It's a surprisingly big edification with red bricks walls and concrete corners, the town' flag hanging near the entrance, at the side of the school many types of court are situated, such as the tennis and volleyball courts, there is also a big swimming pool next to them, and I assume that where the second of home of Finnick is.

Midway through the school length I started to hear some shouts and yells, on the other side of the building exists a basketball court and boys were playing at it, Peeta happened to be one of them.

"Lights out, dude!" Marvel screams to Cato, who took a risk and launched the orange ball for a-three-point chance. Thresh was unable to stop the ball, and that was something, his massive body was more athletic that I could have imagined, his big arms nearly blocking the ball, but it was useless, Cato was too good for him and they scored.

"Yeah!" Clove and Marvel cheered in unison, exchanging high-fives with Cato, what was when they noticed me watching them.

"Yo! Katniss, what's up?" Thresh boomed from his position, his voice was firm and sounded like he was by my side, in reality he was dozens of feet away from me, "Do you play?" he twirled the orange ball with his index finger, the inquisition never leaving his eyes. Peeta and Delly who were next to him watched attentively and even Cato who was catching his breath took time to hear my answer.

"I'm good enough," it was all that they needed.

"Great, go say thanks to your saver, Dells," the girl was flushed and sweating badly, her tee shirt was soaked and she made her way to the bleachers, Madge handing her water and Johanna saying something about how lazy the girl was, "It's a three-on-three, you, me and Peeta against Cato, Marvel and lil'Clove," the girl huffed at the prefix.

"It's going to be fun," Peeta said while he approached me, his usual smile plastered in his face. He was a wreck, skin flushed, his tank top of the Mockingjays – probably the school team – was soaking wet, but he was still looking handsome, his large black shorts and worn out orange sneakers made me feel at ease with my own attire.

Being in a light baseball tee with grey sleeves and denim shorts, along with my blue sneakers wasn't the most appropriate basketball outfit, but it was not like I was going to play the nationals.

Well, Cato and Thresh would beg to differ. They were battling for every point, letting out roars and shouts, I was probably the only one frightened by their commitment, because Peeta came to my side after a point where Cato scored and screamed, hand hammering against his chest in a pride outburst.

"They are always like this," he said, and I did my best to focus on his words instead of the intoxicating smell of his sweat, "Cato used to be the leader of the Tracker Jackers, they are rivals with the Mockingjays, and Thresh happens to be the leader of the Mockingjays," he laughed.

I nodded, "How many teams are around here?"

We laughed together, "That's about it, I promise," and then Thresh started yelling at us, making Clove and Marvel laugh at our distress, only to be yelled by Cato. We were all victims from those two titans.

Madge, Johanna and Delly were soon joined by Finnick and Thom – the two of them oblivious to the war happening on court, and both of them holding paper bags.

The brief moment of contemplation was broke when Thresh shoved the ball in my direction and all my natural reflexes paid off when I swiftly took grasp of it and lunged at Marvel, who surprised by my speed fell backwards, I took opportunity to impress them and finish this game.

I leapt and only the sound of the metal basket bouncing registered on my mind. When I landed my feet only remained for a few seconds on the ground, because suddenly Peeta was holding be me by the waist and everyone else was clapping, "You're amazing!" his voice more exciting than the slam dunk that I just did.

"Dang, the chick is _good_!" Thresh barked, taking me by the waist and hoisting me over his shoulders, it was very high by the way. Aside from the other team everyone was ecstatic, maybe with the move, maybe with the end of the match, I was happy with both.

"Nice move," Cato muttered next to me before plopping down next to Madge on the bleachers.

Finnick whistled loud, taking our attention, "I say for all of us to go to Mellarks and celebrate Katniss debut at our school!" they all cheered in unison this time, including Marvel and Clove. Peeta only shook his head and he took my hand while we made our way to his family bakery. I was about to question his antics, but the bright smile that he shot at me were enough to stop any questions.

My heart was hammering really loud against my ribcage.

* * *

"_You better be home by ten_," her voice serious.

"Okay, mom, anything else?" my voice tired.

"…_maybe some bread…?_"

"_Tell Katniss to bring a cupcake!_" Prim chirps in, she was probably worried about me.

"_Uh, that's right, bring two red velvet cupcakes_," I can actually hear their collective sigh.

I groan, "Fine,"

_Click_.

"Your mother?" Peeta says, he doesn't ask about the cell phone but the curiosity in his eyes is clear, noticing that we are a few feet away from the rest of the party I decide to share some news with him.

"Yeah, she got a little too protective after our date," my face heating up at the final word, "Now she wants to know where I am and with who I'm with all the time, it's like having a tracker planted in my arm," the heavy sigh escaping my lips.

"Bummer, I just hope that it wasn't because of me," he is clearly concerned, I wonder if he wants to get on the good side of my mother. Maybe I want to get on the good side of Mrs. Mellark, or maybe I want her to get on my good side.

"Actually, part of it is your fault," Peeta turns his head with a worried look, "She was watching us last night, and… well, she saw when I kissed you," my cheeks are on fire and I can't even look at him.

"That was barely a kiss! She can't be serious about it," he says a bit worked up, and I can't help but notice the way he refers to our kiss – an exasperated and hopeful tone hidden underneath all indignation.

The bakery comes into view and Peeta and I are the first to enter, I loosen my hold of his hand by his grip tightens, and he doesn't provide any further explanation and I don't question his actions either. His father welcomes us, a huge smile on his lips when he sees everyone walking behind us.

"Peeta, you should have said that you were going to bring a party with you," Mr. Mellark eyes ours linked hands, and he smiles seems get brighter, "and I see that you're friends with miss Everdeen, that's nice," and maybe is the way that the word friends comes out, but I shy away from his gaze and Peeta squeezes my hand.

"We are going to the backyard, okay?" Peeta asks eagerly and he barely waits to his father to nod to tug me, making our way through the bakery's kitchen and straight to the backyard. During our walk I spot the stairs that probably lead to the bedrooms. I also see Luchie and two other employees working over the ovens, he waves at me but I barely have the time to answer.

The backyard is huge and the grass seems greener somehow, there is a small apple tree on the center and Peeta leads me to a big wooden table, Finnick and Thom spread the goods inside the paper bags all over it. Dozens of chips, sodas, sweets and other groceries are displayed and arranged over a very cliché checkered cloth, Madge sat beside me and Cato next to her, across the table Johanna, Finnick and Thom made themselves comfortable, Marvel and Clove were sited in a bench, talking animatedly. Peeta, Thresh and Delly were talking while heading to inside the house.

"Have you met Peeta's mother?" Madge asks, I stare at her, not really sure if my next statement would sound sincere.

"No," and it wasn't a real lie, I never _met_ her, but I did _saw_ her once…

"Let's wind this up!" Thresh boomed from the doorway, an old boombox over his shoulder, "Who's in for a round of dices?" behind him was Delly and Peeta holding some cups probably filled with dices. Peeta slipped to my other side and Delly sat with Thresh in some plastic chairs.

Things started to heat up at the table, after some rounds getting used to the game I was invincible, Johanna would glare me and Finnick groan when I predict correctly their hands and Cato and Thresh were beyond frustration – those two have serious issues with competition.

"Okay, since none us seems to be able to defeat Katniss, I suggest some other game," Thom huffed, everyone nodding in agreement, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't get too cocky, it was beginners luck," Johanna growled, and Peeta nudged me with his elbow, we grinned at her remark and I could see challenge glimmering in her eyes, "Very well, let's play some poker," she grabbed her bag and started to scrambled until a pack of cards was found.

Finnick swiftly shuffled the cards and distributed between us, except for Madge and Delly who didn't know how to play poker. Honestly, I'm no player, but I know the rules, Gale loved to play cards with me, maybe because he always won.

Things turned for the worse, I kept loosing – instead of money we were betting the cookies that Mr. Mellark made for us – and by the looks I would eat none of those, "I'm out," I shoved my cards aside "Me too," Thom chirped and we joined Madge and Delly, who gave me reassuring smiles

Cato, Thresh and Johanna were fierce and reckless, leaving to Peeta and Finnick to gamble with charm and bluffs, "They are so lost," Marvel declared from his position next to us, "Cato and Thresh, and by the looks Johanna is going to fall too,"

I wasn't seeing what he was seeing, because both Cato and Thresh had confident looks on their faces, Johanna had her brows creased in concentration but her stakes were high. Finnick was looking a bit bored and Peeta was wearing a curious smirk. When the cards were drawn I understood Marvel's prevision. Peeta finished them with a straight flush, and they all seemed crushed groaning in unison.

"Well, that was fun, but I don't think I want cookies, so… go for them," and they cookies were left at the table except for one that he grabbed for me, the one with more chocolate dips that I was secretly craving for, "You're a terrible liar," he said while handing me the cookie.

"Am I really that bad?"

"Never gamble at cards, you will lose to your last coin," he laughs and receives a scowl in return, "But you do have the best intuition, Johanna never loses when playing dices," it's a clear try in mollify me and I decide to allow it, but only because the cookie was amazing.

* * *

_Definitely a filler chapter, but I really want to take an inside in how popular and friendly Peeta can be, it gives a nice contrast to Katniss antisocial trait._


	7. Halloween Chapter

_A/N: This is not a normal chapter and has very little to do with the story itself. It's just a small special tale of Halloween that I found fun to do, so enjoy it! _

_Ding-dong_

"Trick or treats?!" Prim and Rue announce animatedly, startling old Haymitch.

He slightly narrow his eyes to focus on the young girls in front of him, "Well, well, well, let's see what we got here," he says while stretching his right to reach for a basket filled with candies, "Lollipops for the little duck," Prim squeals in delight, "and gummy bears for our pretty daisy," Rue beams at him, "and…" he chokes.

I duck my head, in vain, he has seen me. Thresh and I have been walking the girls door to door to collect candies, which would be a rather boring task, became a very embarrassing one. Mom decided that along with Prim I would go out wearing a costume.

"Ooh boy…" he guffaws, and my cheeks burn, the girls turn to me and Thresh places a good-natured hand on my shoulder for some moral support, "This is just precious! A mockingbird?!"

My glare does not silence him, it only adds fuel to his outburst, "And what are you? A hobo?"

He wipes some tears from the corners of his eyes, "Ah, where is your Halloween spirit, sweetheart? No candies for you," the girls and Thresh let laughs escape and I groan making my way back to the sidewalk.

After hearing some more teasing from Haymitch we resume our journey for treats, both Prim and Rue have already filled two medium-size bags of candies, and I have already made a mental note to schedule an appointment with the dentist.

Cinna and my mother teamed up and came with the idea of the mockingbird costume for me, at first I was completely against it, then Thresh begged me to wear it – he didn't want to be alone in this challenge – and mockingbirds were my dad's favorites.

Mortifications aside, my costume is really nice, Cinna made a dress-like bird fantasy that is mainly dark brown, with white edges and a pattern that resembles feathers covering it. He said that he was working on Halloween costume for about a week now, especially for me. I still don't know what I done to deserve him.

"Your costume is amazing, wish that mine were not so… simple," Thresh states, he is an a Arabian outfit, with a white turban and satin gold vest and red trousers, the vest don't closes all the way, so his chiseled form is on display, and in my opinion he could just wrap himself with bandages and still look good.

The girls however are a whole other story. Prim took her nickname to an entirely new level, she brought a white duck costume at Portia's small shop and Rue is in a cute daisy flower costume that frames her lovely face oh so well.

During our endless outing we met some of our friends in ridiculous costumes as well. First of them was Madge, "Hey girls, you look adorable!" she said resting her hands on her knees, bending to take a better look at Prim and Rue.

Her costume was a schoolgirl outfit, that I recognized as an altered version of the actual uniform from the local school, except that hers was made of white satin and the naval collar was covered with blue and sea-green squared fake jewels, as well the pleated white skirt.

"That's clever," Thresh said, appraising her attire, "Wish that I could have thinking in some like that, it would have been simpler," he huffs. Madge smiles at us, taking in our costumes.

"What are talking about, yours are incredible, and look at Katniss," she motions her hand at me, "Your costume is amazing!"

Prim suggests Madge to join our small party, and she accepts the invitation, not before telling her father to be aware to give candy to the children who knock at the door. The mayor nods, waving at us in his Monopoly mayor costume, which I find very appropriate.

During our walk we meet some other familiar faces like Clove who is working at Wiress' café in the form of ballerina – which I assume as being a reminiscence of Swan Lake.  
Later we run into Glimmer who found appropriate to wear the sluttiest costume ever, a see-through bumblebee-like leotard. She is handing out small chocolate bars, when Prim and Rue receive their she shoots a winning smile at us, but not before seizing Madge and both girls have a clash of death stares. Thresh and I step aside and try to ignore the battle of the blondes.

At the town square we face a horde of super-heroes, wizards, vampires, mummies and princesses, Effie and her staff from the beauty parlor are at the front of the establishment giving all sorts of candies to hyperactive children. Effie didn't miss the opportunity and from where I stand I can see the details of her Miss Congeniality disguise.

"Oh my, oh my! What a lovely costume little miss Everdeen," Effie nearly squeals at the sight of Prim, "And you Rue, prettier than any other daisy," the girls smile politely at her before asking for sweets, Effie complies without further delay.

Together we knock at some few more doors before spotting Johanna near a mailbox, her costume? A tree.

"Don't even start," she warns as we approach her, "Damn, I wish Cinna had made a costume for me," she declares after sometime, "And before you ask, I'm only wearing this because Finnick wanted some company while trick or treating,"

Prim and I look dumbfounded, is she serious? A grown man like him really goes after candies during Halloween like a small kid? My question is answered when Finnick himself appears in a prince garment.

"What a delight to see my favorite peasants in such beautiful night!" he declares, left hand carrying an enormous sack, which I presume that is filled with candies, "and oh my, what an exquisite outfit, love," he says in husky voice near my ear, and I shove him aside, earning huge grins from Johanna, Madge and Thresh.

"Aren't you a little old for trick or treats?" my question makes him pout.

"Thy sister judges my behavior, lovely maiden," Finnick kneels in front of Prim, who giggles helplessly at him and his charm, "I bet that you appreciate Halloween just as me," she nods eagerly.

I roll my eyes, waving good bye at Johanna and Finnick who roams to another route in the searches for treats. Rue and Prim still look full of energy so we walk two more streets, and fill four more bags, until we stop at one of the biggest houses around. The stonework is intricate and is a very imposing building, none of us is really willingly to press the bell, just Madge.

Cato appears in the cutest outfit of the night. He is a lion, and Prim, Rue and I let an involuntary '_Oww_' escape our lips. He blushes furiously, and it only makes the sight of his face with the whiskers a lot more adorable. It's really extraordinary to see Cato, who is often too manly and athletic, in such lovely and cute state.

"My lil'brother adores Lion King, so… yeah," right on cue, a smaller version of Cato appears, his spiky hair and blue eyes are very similar to the lion boy, "What? Don't tell me you want more candies?" the boys nods, and then crane his head to look at us.

"Prim, Rue!" his voice has that high pitched tone of pre-adolescents boys, and no strange would be, if one day his voice became stronger and deeper as his older brother.

"Hey, Marco," the girls chirp in unison and the three of them start talking animatedly before deciding to add Cato and Marco to the group. It's a small gang by now.

Madge and Cato exchange glances during our stroll at the last street, while Thresh is already carrying Rue over his shoulders, the girl is exhausted, and Prim and Marco study their recent collect of goodies, Professor Heavensbee was very generous with the kids.

Soon we reach our final destination of the evening, and the irony of it is absurd, just as much as the initial shock of seeing the trio of pastry goods that welcomes us.

"Trick or treats!" Prim, Marco and Rue announce tiredly.

"Gee, that's what I call excitement, you kids are in the need of a good sugar rush," Rye declares, summoning the young ones to collect their prizes.

He is wearing a hilarious waffle costume, while Luchie, who is holding pumpkin baskets, is a huge pancake. But it's only when my eyes fall on Peeta that my smile appears.

He is a cheese bun.

"You look sensational," he compliments me, he is gawking and for just a second I enjoy the fact that I'm able to do this to him.

"And you look delicious," it's only when the words leave my mouth that I realize how suggestive they are, and Peeta being Peeta, doesn't miss the opportunity to tease me.

"Wanna take a bite?" a smirk playing on his lips and a small smile of my own escapes.

I laugh at the thought, "You're too cheesy," he laughs aloud and everyone around look at us, a mockingbird talking with a cheese bun.

"So, did you have fun while trick or treating?" he asks, genuinely curious.

Prim beams at him, "We did, look how many candies we got!" she bounces, her bags with sweeties are overflowing by now, "but don't worry Peeta, your cupcakes are still the best!" she giggles and he nods with a feline grin plastered in his face.

"You bet your tail, little duck! A certain prince came to score a few earlier, he got toothpaste though," they laugh together, but I find myself surprised with his choice of words. I am the only one that calls Prim of little duck. But I don't mind if Peeta does too.

We say our goodbyes, but not before Peeta hands me a small paper bag, '_a small surprise_', he says. Cato and Marco are the first to arrive at their house, then Madge and Thresh and Rue escort us to our house.

Mom greet us, her costume consists in a fake arrow in her head – she finds the association with my favorite sport hilarious for some reason – and she asks what we got. Prim unpacks her bags and awes our mother, who instead of a mental note actually writes down one in a small piece of paper and sticks it on our fridge door. Meanwhile I decide to go to my room, get off of this feathery dress, or at least is that what I try convince myself, because the very first thing that I do when I reach my room is to rip the paper bag open, just to reveal dozens of extra cheesy cheese buns.

"You're so cheesy," I say to no one around, wishing that at least _that_ someone was here…


	8. Chapter 8

"So you're going out again?" her question carries certainty and teasing in equal measures, she knows the answer, all that Prim really wants is for me to voice it.

I roll my eyes, "Yes, Prim, we're going out tomorrow," I dare to share a look with her, we're smiling, "Would you just cut it out!" I throw a pillow at her and we are both giggling silly.

She responds by smashing her fluffy pillow in my head and then it's an all-around pillow brawl, "You're so _into_ him!" she laughs and my cheeks burn instantly, "Is written all over your face!" we stop the fight to catch our breaths.

It's rather a tradition than a regular occurrence, Prim and I sleeping together. It's being a couple of days since the little party at Peeta's backyard, and we have exchanged some humorous – as well flirty – text messages through What'sApp. We came to agreement that I was going to teach him how to swim, that was actually his idea of a second date.

Part of me – the over confident one – just knew that he wanted to see me in a swimsuit again, and the other part of me – the traitorous one – just wanted to see Peeta in a swimsuit again. A third element played a huge part in my acceptance, Cinna's lasted creation. He knew first hand that the date would be taking place in the lake, so it was decided that an entire new line of bathing suits were in order at the atelier. So instead of a dull two piece white bikini, I was going to show up in some sort of fierce masterpiece designed especially for me.

"It's been almost three weeks, can you believe that?" Prim voices. It takes me a moment to think about it. The utter truth is that every day seems to drag very slowly, like the weeks are just as long as months, figures…

"Yeah, funny, right? Back home it used to go by so fast," is more a contemplation than anything else, maybe it's something that Prim and I have as a mutual thought. She confirms by nodding.

She opens her mouth, pauses before speaking, choosing her words, "Do you think that has something to do with Gale? Or Rory? Or Leevy?" we stare at each other. This is a question that we share, too.

I shake my head, "It has nothing to do with Gale, or anyone else for that matter," I surprise even myself with the certainty in my voice, "I just feel like we are milking every single second of every single day," Prim tilts her head and quirks an eyebrow while grimacing at my words, I'm such a square.

"Well, at least I'm not milking anything here… as for you… not so sure," a scream erupts in my throat and I might throttle her right on the spot, but the fierce blush that creeps on my cheeks gives me away, and I hate it, "Hey, I'm kidding! It's just a tease," she sits up flapping her hands in a soothing manner at me, she gets closer, "Katniss, say something! I-I was j-just joking!" every action carries a consequence, Prim finds out when a pillow smashes her right on the side of her head.

She fall out of the bed breathless and I stare down at her, she is flushed and stunned, a vindictive gleam appear on her eyes, "I wonder what Rory would think about Marco," I spat at her and all her rage vanishes, a teddy bear flies right on my face.

"Don't you dare!" the rest of the night is filled with screams, yells and loud meows from Buttercup.

* * *

"Be careful," she advises, her voice almost turns the words into orders, "If something happens to him be aware that you're the one dealing with his mother, and trust me, you won't like it," mom warned me, and I don't needed to be told twice. Thresh told me a few days ago how Peeta's mother can be, ruthless and arrogant, but I already know that.

Thresh has become something that I can't pinpoint yet. It's like the best of two things that I never had, a mixture of older brother and that neighbor that is always around to help you out. Since he lives a few blocks away he has being walking me after my day at Cinna's atelier. I came to find out that he works at a small farm near the town skirts owned by Chaff, who coincidently or not is one of Haymitch's best friends. They get drunk together in daily basis.

Thresh's cousin has also become dear to me, Rue is now one of Prim's best friends, the two actually resemble each other, Rue's satin skin and dark brown eyes and curly raven black hair differs her though. In the other hand they're like the same mind in different bodies. It can be too much at times. Like now.

"You look beautiful," they squeak in unison, "You should wear this to school," Prim states, and I struggle to suppress an involuntary giggle. I'm on my swimsuit.

"Yeah, you look like a golden goodness," Rue breaths and a subtle blush graces my face. She tends to get too reverent towards me and often get too carried away.

"Let's not go that far," Prim raises a hand at her, interrupting what could be more praise to my figure. I feel slightly annoyed, is embarrassing to admit, but it does feel good to receive some compliments, Prim is not that type of supportive with me, "Here, I bet that his huge jaw will go slack,"

She hands me a sheer dress that makes me cringe at the thought of wearing it, "No! Your mother will not allow it for sure, besides you don't want to show the goods that fast!" Rue's line of thought makes me cringe for real, what exactly does she means by show the goods?

The real question is how the two of them became so experienced with this sort of situation…

Prim huffs, "Yeah, you're right, wait," she scrambles another drawer in my dresses, tossing clothes that I don't recognize, all of them in a pallet of pastel colors and soft pinks, "Seriously, Cinna is really focused on turning you into a Barbie doll or into a complete rock star," she mumbles while trying another drawer with more unknown clothes and now in darks and golden colors.

"These are all Cinna's?" I stutter. She hands me a black poncho that hangs loosely on my figure. Just enough to give a tease of my suit.

Prim nods absentmindedly, "That or you finally started to dress like a girl, the former being the most reasonable option," someone states from the doorway, "Not that I care, but this bathing suit, wow," Johanna lingers her eyes at the one piece that I'm wearing, it's rather comical than embarrassing.

"What are you doing here?" my voice comes almost harsh, mimicking her tone, always abrasive, "Don't remember inviting you,"

That is another thing that happened in the course of these two weeks, Johanna Mason and I became something akin to friends if Thresh is the older brother that protects me, Johanna incorporates the older sister that won't hesitate in throwing me in front of a bus if she has the chance. Of course, the only one aloud to hurt me is her, and no one else.

The other day Cato made some remark about how scrawny I am. It took Johanna one sentence to shut him up for good and for me to receive an apology from his. The words that she chose would scandalize my mother or anyone with the sense least of decorum really. Still, she is somewhat protective over me, and in my heart of hearts I know that is because of Peeta. They share a bond that I don't quite understand; when I was visiting him in the bakery – with the lame excuse of buying bread – they were hanging out, not in the normal teenager way, but in a quiet and distant way, like they were communication through telepathy.

It's not that I'm jealous or anything… I just want to smack the crap out of her when she is alone with him… for no reason…

Peeta assured me that it has to with Johanna's family, or lack of thereof, she lives with her uncle Blight and rarely talks about her parents or any other relatives. It's her business and I am not the one that is going to meddle in it.

My little reverie is interrupted by Johanna, "Your sister and little Rue are under my care today," she grins at the girls, "Your mama hired me as babysitter, your mother called Blight and I said yes," she shrugs, "It's her call today at the hospital,'

Johanna as a babysitter is kinda of a longshot in my head.

"Whatever," I try to sound nonchalantly, "I won't be long," Rue helps me with a small vine purse from my mother and I shove all my things inside.

Johanna snickers, "Yeah, right…" is almost a mutter, but loud enough for me to hear. I would make a snarky comeback, but in all honesty, I hope that it takes long…

* * *

The poncho turns out to be a good idea. It waves freely while I paddle to the lake, it's a quite the scenario, the town in a Sunday morning. All the stores are closed but somehow everything remains vivid, like life is blooming everywhere. The comparison is unfair but inevitable, in my previous town every Sunday was dull and lifeless, no wonder it my least favorite day of the week.

My way to the lake is quite bumpy, part of the road is under construction, signs of the town prefecture announce the new road – the first – to lead to the lake. Many people were preoccupied with the road, with the high insurgence of tourist, but it was inevitable, changes always come.

For a brief moment my heart skips a beat at the sign of Peeta's motorbike. I park my humble iron bike next to his and my eyes to scan the lake. Aside from a few fishermen in the wharf there is no one around and my eyes fall immediately on Peeta, who is shuffling in a small glade, above a checked blanket, a basket near him. A huge grin plastered in my face.

His is too focused on arranging whatever he is arranging, to the point that he is not aware of my approach. My natural stealth plays a big part in surprising him from behind. He is crouched in from the basket and not the tiny bit aware of my presence

"Ah!" he yelps when I bend forward, so my head is upside down right in front of his, his back leans on my legs and I fight the best that I can a smile at the sight of his surprised face. His blue eyes wide and alarmed, turning calm and bright by the second he recognizes me.

"Sorry to startle you," my voice dripping mischief.

He laughs, "Yeah, I can see that you're so sorry," I straighten up to help him stand and glance at the basket, "Oh, yeah! It's a picnic! Surprise!" he says sheepishly and I give him a good frown, "Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but I not good with them,"

"Believe me, I'm stunned, may I?" motioning my hand to a spot in the blanket he blinks a few times before nodding vigorously and processing what I am saying.

"Y-yeah, sure! Seat away!" his voices is unusually loud, and a fierce blush appears on his pale cheeks, and for the very first time I take some time to appreciate his clothes. A fine beige cargo short with a very bright red belt and a loose tank top that puts on display all his arm muscles and well defined chest.

I have a hard time keeping my eyes from staring too long at his arms while he takes some contents from the basket, "My mother says that is not good to eat before swimming," he cranes his head at me with a sort of sad smile, flashing those puppy eyes of his.

"You want to swim already?" is a plead more than anything else.

"I'm here to teach you how to swim, remember?" I take my sneakers off and stand up, taking off my denim shorts and poncho, revealing the golden swimsuit designed by Cinna. Peeta gawks at me and a weird wave of satisfaction rushes through me.

"Wow," he breathes and no matter how adamant I try to be in front of others, it's nearly impossible for my cheeks to not redden and hopefully the tanning in my olive skin is enough to hide it.

I take tentative steps towards the lake shore, "Come on, we don't have all day," my feet already underwater. Peeta rises to his feet and hastily gets rid of his slip-on shoes and clothes. The black speedo he wears nearly takes my breath away.

"Let's do this," hi assures me, but it's like he is trying to reassure himself instead of me.

At first there is no surprises, Peeta is not afraid of water as long is on his shoulder level. The real struggle begins when I try to teach him how to float, what seems to ludicrous to me, since a boy who can do a somersault is incapable of floating above water.

"Keep still, relax your arms and legs," I command while pressing my palms to the side of his head, "There," he manages to remain afloat and noticing that he can't hear me with water muffling his ears I smile reassuring him.

Within half an hour I manage to teach him how to do some basic strokes, challenging to come to me when I swim to far from his reach. Every time he succeeds his arms encircle my waist and keep a hold tight of me.

"Okay, I think I got a hold of it," he says breathlessly. Despite his words is really hard to believe since he is clutching in me, "Seriously, can we go back?" his puppy eyes finally affect me and my nodding is all that he needs before swimming back to solid ground. I smile the entire time that return to our little picnic.

Peeta slumps over the blanket, his fair skin glistering under the sun, "See, wasn't that hard," I try to cheer him up, for some reason he seems frustrated and it bothers me that it may has something to do with the 'class'.

"Easy for you to say mermaid," he chuckles, "It's just that it's so ridiculous," he huffs.

I tilt my head to the side, trying to understand what he is implying, "What is?"

"Me," he sighs, "I mean… I am almost seventeen, there is a huge lake in my town, everyone I knows is a decent swimmer, and it takes me all this time to learn how to,"

Now I get it, it is sort of ridiculous, but not something that anyone should be ashamed, "It's not all, is it?" the fearful look in his face answers me, "What happened?"

His eyes flint away from mine, his cheeks flush instantly, "Nothing really…" he trails off, resting his hands under his head, he looks back at me and we have a stare clash, "Fine! He is going to tell you at some point anyway!" he almost shouts, and if somehow is possible his cheeks flame up.

"Who is going to tell me what?" my curiosity in it's peak.

He sighs again, "Finnick…" he roll his eyes before continuing, "We were thirteen, and we made this stupid bet, of how I couldn't swim across the lake, what we both knew I really couldn't," he inhales loudly, "And then I was stupid enough to accept the bet and get myself drowned,"

At this point is impossible for me to keep a straight face. What kind of friends does that to another?

"Of course Finnick was counting on me bluffing, but then when things got scary he was the one that saved me," you can actually hear all the gratitude in Peeta's words, a sort of reverence towards the bronze haired boy, "He caught me and dragged me to the shore and saved me,"

"Peeta that is… I'm sorry I pushed you to swim, I didn't know…" what the hell was I thinking? Of course he had a reason to not to know how to swim.

"Oh, it's not like I develop some sort of trauma with water or anything," he explains, "The only trauma was Finnick kissing me," he blushes furiously.

"What?!" it's a scream voiced by me.

He laughs, "Yeah, too much water in my lungs, you know the drill, do Finnick had to do mouth to mouth resurrection," my mouth hangs agape and my wild imagination tries to conjure the picture.

"Finnick kissed you? Finnick…?"

He contorts his face trying to holds laugh, my expression must be hilarious to him, "Yeah, apparently no one can resists the Odair charm," he laughs loudly and in seconds I enjoy him, "The worst part was that he didn't called me the next day," we burst into laughter.

We spend the next hours eating away pastries and frisking the ice tea that he brought, talking about everything and anything. I tell him of my hobbies, and he is awed when I tell about my archery skills as well my liking for lamb stew – one of Sae's specialties that I came to love.

The way back to town is slow, both of us walking along with our bikes at our sides. Peeta insists that his motorbike is not heavy, maybe he is just too strong to notice. During our walk we exchange furtive glances at each other, the sunset casting an orange glow that makes his pale blonde hair looks like a halo.

I feel like the atmosphere is lighter somehow, that I could vomit a rainbow now. This sense of giddiness scares the hell out of me. "So I guess here it's my stop," I announce. Even our garden seems happier if that's even possible, daisies and azaleas that Prim takes care a blossoming and the grass finally looks greener.

"Bummer," Peeta says, taking a step towards me. In the core of my mind, the very sub-conscious of mine knows exactly what is about to happen, and panic set my body on fire, but the expectation and curiosity beat it to the punch and soon I'm meeting him halfway.

It may be just my wild imagination but I think he mouths my name, but the sound never comes. It must be my lips shutting him up. It's sloppy, wet, clumsy and overall fast, in the end my right cheek is pressed to his left one.

"Katniss…?" the sound is now so close, but so far at the same time. I blame my state of mind that is in such a high that would take me a fall from cloud nine to pay any attention.

I hum in his cheek, questioning his reasons for calling my name, he laughs quietly, "It wasn't me…" we pull apart, I didn't even noticed that my eyes were closed, but my joy is mirrored in Peeta's blue one.

Peeta. If he wasn't the one that called me who then…

I turn around, and for the briefest moment my heart sinks and I wished that this day would never come.

He is standing in my front door, suitcase next to his feet, Johanna and the girls watching the entire scene from behind him.

Gale.

* * *

_A/N: I had a rough time writing this one down, like it took me the third draft to grasp what a wanted. And yes I did the cheap shot and put the first kiss and Gale in the same chapter. It may sound rushed and trust me it is._

_The next chapter is a Christmas one – I'm only doing it because the Halloween one was very well received and the review were all lovely – the special chapter will also be the first not told from Katniss's point of view, which is a major change for me._

_You guys can follow me at tumblr to keep apar from the things happening to me as well ask me anything. (teawsugar)_


	9. Chapter 9

It happened when I was thirteen. Fall was settled in the gloomy woods of my previous town, I was on top of a maple tree, using an old awl and spile that belonged to my father to gather some syrup. Till to this day I don't have any idea how I was able to fall asleep, I blame the cool weather and gentle breeze and the soft rustle of the orange leaves… the point is, I fell, and fell hard. It knocked the wind out of me, it took me what seemed hours to recover, and for a moment I thought I would die in wanes.

* * *

Somehow that is the best memory that I can associate with the current moment.

I gape at Gale for the most excruciating infinity of my life, if that is somehow possible, "Ah… Katniss?" Peeta breaks the trance that I was in while staring at Gale's eyes, "Is everything okay?"

For a moment guilt laces my heart, while I am assessing how great the damage in kissing Peeta has done, here he is, nothing but to worry about me. How selfish a girl can be?

Gale's eyes dart to Peeta, an altercation on the horizon seems inevitable, "Hey lover boy, why don't you give me a ride home? These two wore me out," Johanna intervenes, I silently thank her and I bet she can feel the tension in the air, the same tension that Peeta seems oblivious to.

I take this as a cue, "You better go, is getting late," but he is not paying attention to me. His eyes are locked on Gale. Peeta seemed oblivious.

Then Peeta nods, squeezing my hand which is still laced with his, I turn to say goodbye but much to my surprise he gives a gentle peck on my lips, "See you later," he beams and waves to Prim and Rue who are giggling helplessly and he even nods acknowledging Gale, who locks his jaw and ignores him – it is wise to not introduce them yet, the result could be disastrous.

Johanna passes by me with a concerned look, I try to nod discreetly at her, she seems to get it and hops on the bike latching her arms around Peeta's waist in a not so innocent movement. Even under the awkward circumstances I can't help myself from glaring daggers at her. She smirks and Peeta interrupts our little teasing battle when he offers her a helmet, curiously not the same one that I use when he gives me a ride.

They say goodbye and the motorbike disappears down the lane. Relief and apprehension rise at the same time, and I summon all my courage to turn and look at Gale. He is fuming. In an alternative scenario I would probably just ran into his arms, not so sure if that is an alternative now.

I exchange a look with Prim, and she promptly goes back inside with Rue, leaving Gale and I alone, my question breaking the overwhelming and alien silence, "What are you doing here?" _really Katniss, is that the best that you can come up with?_

"It was meant to be a surprise," he seizes me with his steely eyes and I take him in. He seems taller, older even, with the course of the past few weeks my memory couldn't hold all his handsome features with the precision that one could expect from me, since I used to spend most of my time in his company.

The dinosaur tee shirt that he is wearing is one of his favorites, so is the pair of jeans and sneakers that he is on; is a very Gale look. I feel beyond self-conscious with my attire, the loose poncho fortunately hides my golden swimsuit and shorts, my face however, tells a whole 'other story. My cheeks are rosy pink from baking under the sun, my hair is lighter than usual and the tan that I got promises to stick around for a while.

His olive skin, dark hair and grey eyes practically mimic mine but it scares me that I find him so out of place in this town, especially now that I feel like this is my home. It feels like Gale is a reminiscent memory that decided to pay me a visit.

"You're unbelievable," he scoffs picking up his suitcase, "Do you have any idea how much I missed you? How lonely it felt when you left?" his gaze shifts from blazing angry to painfully sad, "Shit… how stupid can I be…"

"Gale…" my voice fails in the end, no words come out. All that I can really say to him is that '_no_'.

I don't really know how he felt with my departure, because while he was alone I was making friends with Thresh and Cato, spending evenings listening to Madge play her piano, working in the sunny mornings with Cinna at the atelier, serving hot dishes in Greasy Sae's restaurant, spending cool nights with my mom and Haymitch talking in our front porch. Swimming my days away with Peeta.

It sounds wrong, all of it. Gale and I were friends; we _are_ friends, best friends. However I moved on; me of all people decided not to sulk and freak out about the changes. Me, the girl that locked herself in a closet when her father died, the girl who still has issues with abandonment because of her absent mother, putting like that makes my childhood look awful.

"I'm staying in the inn or somewhere else, but don't worry, I'm leaving tomorrow," he says flatly, but not quite, the anger still lingers in the tone.

"You're kidding right?" I shake my head, "You just got here! Is this because of Peeta?" myvoice fails, he does not know Peeta, the name means less than nothing to him. He glares me, nostrils flaring, I nearly shiver under his gaze, "I can explain…" what exactly I have no real idea.

"Save it Katniss," it cuts me deep. My own name used as weapon. He brushes past me, making a real point in shoving my shoulder.

I turn and grab his forearm in a death grip, "What I was supposed to do?!" I snap at his face, seeing red being reflected in his grey eyes, "Cry and sob for the rest of my life because of your constant absence?" there, I hurt him good enough now, "Of course I miss you, every single day! But I won't stop living because of that,"

He pulls his arm free from my grasp, "And I'm happy for you, I really am… I just… I never expected for you to move on to a boyfriend that fast,"

I take a step back, my mind registering what he is stating; processing what this is really about, "Gale, we talked about this when I left…"

"I know, Catnip, I know," he says dejectedly, "But that doesn't mean it hurt any less," the pained expression on his face makes me cringe, what scares me the most is the heartache that I feel at the sight. Seeing Gale – or anyone that I care for that matter – in pain is my undoing.

I lower my gaze, "Please don't go, your just arrived, stay at east for few days," I plead.

He sighs heavily, measuring his decision, "Fine, I'll stay, at the inn, I bet that your mother would flip if I stayed here anyways," he states.

* * *

Feeling somewhat lighter I decide to walk him to the Chaff's Inn. It's a very nice place located downtown, it's one of the hotspots around here, mostly due the bar run by Seeder, the warm nights of summer are washed down with cool beer and impossibly good barbecue. Haymitch took me, Prim and my mom the other day, not so surprising my mother was friends with Seeder and knew Chaff from her childhood, more surprising was how fun and relaxing the entire night was.

A soft breeze comes across and the twilight makes the moon almost disappear from our view, the houses from downtown start to appear and people who are seated in benches and chairs in front of their houses greet me. I smile back and ignore the way that Gale stares at me, that is another thing that is new to me, becoming a part of our town, the fact that this one is way smaller than our previous city also helps me to know everyone better.

The rest of our walk to the inn is quiet, the cicada's song cutting the amiable silence. Gale seems entranced by the entire affair, I was too at first. The architecture is completely different here, there are some resemblances of a European eclectic style – at least that was what Cato told me –, so different from the so ordinary precast houses from his town. The forest is different, too. Green plum trees line the street and the sound of the leaves ruffling gently is lulling me into a profound serenity.

"I can see how you came to like here, it's beautiful," Gale breaks the silence, he is still admiring the view, "So, how long have you two being dating?"

Then I choke with something, maybe embarrassment, "We are not dating," my voice more unsure than anything else. Honestly, I don't really know where I stand with Peeta, I didn't see it coming at all, he crept on me and before I realized anything he already created roots in my life.

"So you just kiss boys nowadays?" there is more genuine questioning than venom in his tone, and my eyes wide at him, he stops right on spot, "He was your first kiss," I stop dead on my tracks, now he is not really questioning, he is stating; which is worse, far worse.

Is there any appropriate answer for something like this?

"Can we just talk about something else?" I plead, because this level of awkwardness between us is unnatural, "Gale" he seems lost in thought and suddenly he snaps from his daydream.

He takes a step towards me.

"Gale?" another step, I take a step backwards, "What are…?" my back slams against a plum tree trunk, the leaves fall from above us and Gale is so close now that is barely an inch between us. And then there is no space at all, his lips square against mine.

The smell of oranges fills the air, and my mind registers that it's coming from Gale. His lips chapped against mine. And that is pretty much it.

Is like when we place your finger in a wall socket, you freeze for a second and regret immediately the stupid idea of letting it happen.

My hands create a conscious of their own, shoving him a far as possible, "Katniss… I'm…" his tone dripping what I take as regret or maybe rejection, I don't really want to know which one is. I lower my head, not wanting to see his face anymore, not wanting to see anyone or anything at all.

A void starts to consume when I hear the crunch of leaves announcing his retreat. No other word is exchanged between us, not even a glance. When the sounds dies down I raise my head to see that he is no longer in view, the street now completely illuminated by the iron lamp posts looks so dreamy, the plum trees swaying gently with the cool breeze of summer.

And there is me, slumping to the ground with my fingers touching my lips.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews, the (super) lovely messages and alerts and favorites and all that! It's so amazing to have faithful readers like you!_

_About this chapter, this was kind of difficult to pull it out. Gale and Katniss relationship is usually taken for granted, they have a story together but since we see her relation with Peeta being developed from the very beginning is easier to root for them._

_Anyways, I don't see Gale as an antagonist of sorts, he is more like that character that has good intentions (maybe a little too self-centered) but as we all know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions._

_You guys can still follow me at tum__blr (_teawsugar_) and sends me PMs (they make my day)!_


	10. Chapter 10

"And what was I supposed to do, Haymitch?!" I yell at him, feeling slightly tipsy already.

He scoffs, "Well… for starters you could have not kissed him," he takes another loud gulp from his glass.

"I didn't kiss him! He kissed me, it's different," my brain tried to come-up with a very good example for my theory but the alcohol was taking a toll on my brain gears, "It's different," again, my brain was not collaborating with my explanations. I realize that my lame excuse sounded like a cliché phrase from some rom-com movie with teens.

He scoffs again, "Tell that to your little baker," there is no malice or venom behind his words but they do sting, a lot, right on my heart, "No matter how you play this scenario in your head, or how you will paint it to him, you _did_ let this happen and he won't take this lightly, no one would,"

My heart is hurting again, this time more profusely. This is bad, really bad, it's all wrong; "What should I do?" he looks at me and measure his next words but then it hits me, "W-Wait! What the hell am I doing?!" I voice my thoughts.

"H-Hey, you're the one that showed up all '_I want a drink_' and stuff!" he laughs it off, "I don't support teenager-y alcoholism but you seemed pretty desperate,"

"Yeah, kinda like you," I retort then pause when the world starts to spin around me. I try to plant my feet solid on the ground and the lights get brighter by the second, I blink a few times… it gets better.

I must be pretty intoxicated to get to the point of asking Haymitch for this sort of orientation. Taking that as a cue I wobble my way towards home while fishing my phone from my short's pocket, squinting my eyes to make out the right name.

Haymitch shouts something, or grumbles or maybe it's an owl, whatever it is I ignore completely, the phone rings twice before she picks up, "Katniss…?"

"Madge!" I basically scream, some neighbor's dog barks and howls because of it, "I screwed everything!" much to my surprise – or not – I let out a sob.

"Katniss, is 2:00 a.m. where are you?" her voice hoarse and raspy, she barely waits for me to mumble my answer before killing the call.

* * *

_That was rude. _My mind conjures, then I flop on the second step of my front porch stairs and wait for the alcohol to wear off. Apparently my mind likes to play tricks or something because out of nowhere a sport car stops right in front of our house, Cato stepping out of it. _Never considered Cato the man of my dreams… dreams? Hallucinations? Maybe the man of my__ inebriations…_

"She looks like a mess," damn, he is rude just like…

"Madge…?" and suddenly she is there, placing her hands on my face, tilting my head to the sides and it get very dizzy, I groan loudly and try to push her away.

"She is completely wasted, how we are going to get her inside?" is she talking to me or to Cato? What is he doing here anyway? Madge's pink pajama is so cute…

"Marco has her sister's number, maybe she will help us out?" Cato say from afar, it's funny how he seems to be dubbed.

"Are they awake?" Madge is so smart, always asking the right question… Cato is barefooted, he could have worn more than just shorts and a tee shirt, right?

He swiftly types on the phone that he is holding since he got out of the car, "It's barely three a.m., of course they are awake," he explains with a some sweetness to her, if that was me asking he would have probably snapped, I always knew that Madge was his favorite person… that's why they are always so close… _oh!_

"You two are dating!" it's a snap, and my voice comes _sooo louuud_.

They eye me with surprise, Cato's jaw goes slack and Madge blushes furiously, "Katniss, c-can we t-talk about this l-later?" she fiddles with her wavy blonde hair, her pale cheeks so rosy.

I pout, it's fun to see them together, maybe they can go out with me and Peeta sometime… oh. Wait, Peeta is going to break up with me…

"Why is she crying? Madge, what the heck is happening?!" Cato stammers, and I don't really know who is crying, the only people around are only Madge and I. And Madge is looking concerned, not crying and I am…

"Katniss you're crying…" _oh, Prim, my little duck_, "Come on, let's get you in bed, can you help me, Madge?" the mayor's daughter nods and I feel my body being lifted, almost floating. If that's how Haymitch feels every time he drinks he has have a mental problem, because this is no life style.

Then everything is all a complete blur and finally darkness.

* * *

"Argh…" my head is pounding and then all that I can think is…

"That's gross," Prim says from the doorway, admiring the view of my head nearly falling inside the toilet bowl, "Feeling better?"

My groan works as answer, I don't even remember dashing to the bathroom in the first place, silently thanking my body to manage this small feat.

"Mom, had to go, I called Cinna, he said that is okay for you to skip today, Sae told me to give you some soup and juice," I know that she is just saying, but it feels like she is screaming right on my ear, and why is so bright in here? "Don't drink with Haymitch again,"

"Oh yeah, I drank with Haymitch," it all falls in place, my outburst, the two bottles of vodka, the three packs of beer, my confession, Gale kissing me, my decision to tell everything to Peeta…

It burns coming up too, "_Urgh_, you have to stop vomiting someday," she says before disappearing from my sight. After two more round of getting myself empty and drained I work my way to the kitchen, noticing the bread on the island.

"You went to the bakery?" it hurts just to think about it.

"More like the bakery came to us," she says, I look at her skeptically, "Peeta stopped by," my heart stops, "Cato told him that you had a small party with our neighbor and ended up wrecked in the front yard, he was concerned, but you were passed out upstairs and he didn't want to wake you," she trails off.

I nod slowly, "Right… did Gale showed up?" this makes me want to face-palm myself, this is such a mess and stupid and so 'teenage-ish' that it annoys me to my very core.

Prim however seems oblivious to my distress, "He called, said that he wants to go see the city, mom and I are going, though, we sort of volunteered for it since you were 'out'," she goes back to buttering a slice of bread. I take this as an opportunity to solve most of my internal problems.

"We should have dinner together, at Sae's, but I'll go see Peeta now, okay?" she gives me a knowing smile and I have the urge to roll my eyes, but that would imply that she is right, that I am going to meet Peeta to kiss and cuddle – the awful truth is that I am probably going to hurt him, and argue and all this things that are bound to hurt me, too.

I change from my pajamas – that don't have the slightest idea of how I came to wear – to some casual clothes, a plain white shirt, khaki pants and my leather flats. I decide to go afoot , taking my time to come up with a nice speech to dwell the impact of my betrayal – if it's even mine since I was not the one that started the kiss, but as Haymitch pointed out I could have prevented it – maybe Peeta would forgive, maybe we could work this out, but this would the best case scenario, and Katniss Everdeen never finds herself in the best case scenario…

* * *

Even the weather has turned out awful; the sky is dark and clouds that go from grayish to pitch black and when I notice that there is no wind today, which indicates a summer storm coming. Most shop keepers are already withdrawing all the merchandising they usually display at the front of their stores, like the Cartwrights. Delly is already hurrying to place all the beautiful azaleas inside the flower shop.

"Hey, Katniss!" she beams and waves animatedly at me. Usually I not very comfortable with this sort of display of friendliness and affection, but with Delly is nearly impossible to be indifferent. The fact that she is one of Peeta's best friends also speaks volume. She is going to hate me for hurting her friend, but for the time being I'm going to enjoy her friendship.

"Hey, Delly, packing already?" I say dumbly, is pretty much clear what she is doing, but I'm still going to stick to small talk.

She nods, "Yep, the weather looks pretty bad, the news said that is going to be the worst storm this year," she says haltingly and I get a little anxious, rains never done much damage in my previous town, "Oh, but don't you worry, is not like it's going to destroy the city, lots of wind and lightings, but nothing with destructive power to scare us," she adds with a good natured smile.

"Oh… okay, well… I'm off to see Peeta, see you around Delly," she gives me a knowing smile that practically mimics Prim's early one. It makes me sick to the stomach…

_Beep._

It's a message from mom, asking me if Peeta is going to join us for dinner. I send her a 'maybe…' with reticence just in case and she replies with a simple 'okay'. I keep my phone in silent mode.

The bakery bell chimes, announcing my entrance – that can be the last one for all I know – and it doesn't take more than a minute for Peeta to show up. It's the first time that I wish that it wasn't him.

"Katniss, what are you doing here?" he says already smiling, he makes his way to me and is about to kiss me when I duck my head, his lips landing on my cheek, "Is everything okay?" the question almost go unnoticed, his natural scent only highlighted here, the aroma of cinnamon and dill so familiar now that I could recognize it from outer space.

"I kissed Gale," the words practically spat on his face, so long for my speech. I take a step backwards just in time to see the meaning of my confession sink into his mind, to see the hurt spreading across his features. It takes a minute, it takes forever, he does not reply, "Peeta, say something,"

His eyes focus on his feet, "Gale… the boy who was in your front porch yesterday?" he looks back at me again. I nod. "The one you didn't introduced, the one that I assumed as your cousin,"

"We are no cousins," I mutter and promptly regret doing.

Peeta scoffs, "Clearly…" if it was anyone else I wouldn't be so affected by the venom, but coming from Peeta makes the impact hit three times worse, every syllabi a blade stabbing my heart, "Now that your boyfriend is here, where does it leave me?"

"Peeta!" no… this is all wrong, "He is not my boyfriend, never was… I… I would never do that to…" he shakes his head, a twisted smile on his face.

"But you did," he laughs, really laughs, and I afraid that he has gone mental for a second, "It's my fault really,"

"W-What?"

"Here I was, happy and content, thinking about you all day long…" his voice breaks and tears start to well up in my eyes, "Actually, all my life for that matter, and when I think I finally found you, that I finally got you…"

"I'm s-sorry, please Peeta…" the desperation in my voice scares me, the tears flowing scare me, but most of all it's the indifference in his eyes that scare me.

He walks past me and opens the door, "Get out of here,"

There is no anger, no sadness, no emotion, nothing but just a plain, neutral tone that tears my heart apart.

"I can explain, it's not like you're thinking!" my desperation increasing by the second, and I don't really know of what I'm scared. Actually I do, it's just too hard to admit.

His eyes narrow at me, "Amuse me, Katniss," and just like that every single word in my humble vocabulary seems to vanish from my brain. Words fail me so easily.

"H-He… we just… he kissed me," I lower my gaze too humiliated to meet his icy ones, "And I know I should've stopped him, but I didn't knew what to do and we have a history together, I mean his is my best friend, what… how…" stop it, _stop it!_

"Yeah, that explains everything," that's exactly what I was hoping to hear.

Except for the fact that is completely twisted and cold.

He doesn't move, only motions his head indicating the way out, not even chancing a glance towards me. I take shaky steps, the air still and chilly, no one is strolling on the usually buzzy downtown so when Peeta slams the bakery door behind me is easy to hear the sound of my heart shattering.

* * *

"Katniss?!" the alarm is instant, her face contorted with worry, "What happened? You're soaking wet!"

I got caught by the rain, and it was one more cliché to add to the now endless list of my current situation, I feel cold, freezing to the bone. But it was nice to ignore the hot tears streaking down my face, the salty droplets mingling with the storm that is pouring now.

She places her hands in my arms, looking more distraught than anything, she shakes me a bit, "Say something!"

I look up to her, finding some strength to voice an answer, "Peeta is not coming for dinner, mom…" the tears re-start immediately and that infuriates me, this lack of control of my emotions, of the soon to be absence of Peeta in my life.

* * *

It's a quiet affair, dinner at Sae's. We take sit in one of the old booths and Prim takes the seat by my side, mom across me. Lavinia brings some juice and bread and we wait for Gale. He appears a few minutes later in a flannel shirt and cargo pants, looking a more comfortable than when he arrived, he greets Prim with a hug and kisses my mom's cheek. He only nods at me.

They talk animatedly about the things happening at Gale's town, about Rory joining the soccer team, of Posy's new dog and a lot of things that I completely ignore. Not on purpose, but because my mind can't stop playing my encounter with Peeta. Prim tries to make me eat a few fried chicken wings, Gale insists in placing me into the conversation and mom only looks concerned at me. I try to not snap at Gale, I really do, it's hard though. All of this could be prevented, but is no use trying to envision what it could be.

Despite the always delicious aroma, I barely eat a thing. Mom makes a point of taking the leftovers for me. The rain now is nothing more than a drizzle – apparently the storm of the century is coming some other day - and I don't wait for mom or Prim to say their goodbyes to Gale, so I make my way to the car and freeze when I spot the Mellark's kids car passing by. But they don't stop, and I wonder where they can be going at a time like this. Then I remember that I have no right to know.

It's void, all around quiet and if possible abnormally odd. Redundancies aside is an awful couple of days, which basically consist in me doing my chores in auto-pilot, at least my body is able to function properly, the same can't be said about my mind though.

This is only brought up Wednesday by Cinna, who throws a major tantrum when I answer him with a shrug, "For crying out loud, Katniss!" I jump startled and Venia raises an eyebrow, "You know what, take the day off, I can't really deal with you and this melancholic attitude of yours,"

The funny thing is that all I have done for the past couple of days was to stare at nothing in particularly from the front window, since I don't really know what I do at the atelier.

My way back home is slow, taking my time to gather some energy to feign some enthusiasm that I used to have. I don't even ride my back anymore, it's like I going to fall out of it every time I try to paddle.

Gale is on my way back, and it's like the word '_cliché_' decided to be a constant in my life. He has his back pressed against the red brick wall of the old cinema theater, "So? Are you going to ignore me for the rest of my stay here or we're going to get this figured it out?"

"I would like to figure this out," I say tiredly, not really bothering with my sullen attitude, I'm simply allowing myself to act like a teenager, since I am a teenager, "I thought I had made it very clear the nature of our friendship before I left,"

He meets my eyes, the face carrying the honesty that I came to thrust with time, "Yes, you did but I was fool back then and apparently I still am," he sighs pushing himself from the wall and straightening up, "I had no right to kiss you, I know that but I just thought… I was hoping that with the distance that maybe…"

I shake my head, "No Gale, and we both know that not even the distance would have change a thing, not really," he nods slowly, looking a tad bit embarrassed, "You're my friend, best friend and you do know that I love you, but you also know the way that I do," he nods again.

"Dinner tonight can be awkward, hum?" he smiles and the teasing helps in lighten up the situation.

"Maybe, it's advisable to not bring this topic up," my lips quirking up.

"Catnip, I have no idea of what you're talking about," he turns his face mock serious, and I enjoy the pretending with a curt nod and knitted brows, "Now, could I get a tour around?"

I try to show as much landmarks as possible to Gale, from our school to the park, the entrance to the road that leads to the lake is the last stop. I don't know why, but I'm not comfortable with the idea of Gale going to the lake. Although we made amends, my dichotomy with Gale is shaken and my mind is not able to focus on anything at all.

We meet Prim and mom at Sae's for the second time this week and have a dinner replete of small talk, questions about how are our friends at Gale's town, what are we doing here, and what to expect for the end of summer. Gale tells us that he is going to stay for the next couple days, which gives him time to explore a little more around. He had spent the last couple of days with Prim and Haymitch, it was a bit unnerving and random, but I didn't paid too much attention.

There is laughter, good natured jokes and delicious food during the course of dinner, Sae's appears saying that only the best for '_one of her best employees_' but despite all of this I spend most of my time staring out at the window, focusing on the establishment down the street.

Watching the Mellark bakery lights go off and a broad shouldered blonde leaving the place with his father and brothers. It's like he is right next to me, even when I know that there are miles separating us.

They walk a few steps to their car and my heart stops when I see him looking at me. His eyes red, expressionless and that is what hurts the most.

* * *

_A/N: A lengthier chapter than the last one. Yeah, sorry to disappoint the Everlark fans out there, but I really wanted to write about this time being apart for Katniss and Peeta._

_Thank you guys for all the reviews, I love all of them (especially the passionate ones). And I really don't see Delly as an antagonist as in other fictions, she is j__ust too sweet for her own good._


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: I'm soooo sorry for the "delay" I was so busy at college and at my work and real world is a bitch, but now that I'm on vacation it seems that the updates won't be so far in between. As a compensation I'm giving this lengthy chapter, and thank you so much to you who (for whatever reason) still sticks with this fic!_

* * *

"Okay, I get it now, they should be together," I say when the episode ends.

"I told you! I mean, they are like meant for each other, of course you don't see it in the beginning but it just that, they…"

"Grow on you," I finish for Prim.

She clasps her hands with a loud smack, "Yeah! I knew you would root for Derek and Stiles!" she says animatedly.

"You know that is nearly impossible for them to get together in this show, right?" she pouts at me and is really funny that she has such a soft spot for the non-official-fictional-couple, "It's just how it is, I mean yeah, it would be awesome, but they just won't be together, the writers will probably just throw some random girl for each one of them and _b__am!_"

She sighs, "You're probably right, but don't worry I'm used of having my favorite couples getting split," it's an indirect hit, but damn it hurts badly. I give her a scowl that she pointedly ignores, "So, now that we finished this one, what's next? _Re__venge_ or _Bates Motel_?"

"Hum… _Bates Motel_, but I can't remember the last episode that I watched though," it's half true, I honestly can't remember the episode that I left, but I really wanted to see _Revenge_, but just the idea of watching a show with a love triangle – or quadrangle for this second season – is just nauseating.

"Okay, so… I haven't watched a single episode from this show, its okay?" Prim asks and I just nod, it's a good show so I don't see a problem. However right on the second chapter I start to doze off, fortunately Prim doesn't notice from her spot on the floor, and soon enough my head is falling to the side and I start to get too comfy on the couch.

* * *

Its late afternoon, the orange glow of sunset coming through the curtains and a soft breeze coming from the window that hangs slightly ajar. The TV is off, and so is the DVD, but what really amazes me is that my head is resting on my mother's lap, her long fingers weaving through my hair, a gentle smile on her lips.

Suddenly it all overwhelms me, and all that I can to is to turn in the couch and wrap my arms awkwardly around her. No tears come, no sobs erupt, is just sadness, a constant hollow feeling that I get every now and then that no one seems to be able to cast away.

"He asked about you today," she says softly, her tone so sweet that sickens me, "You should go see him when you have the time," _and the heart – _she doesn't really have to say the last part, is implied.

"And say what mom?" is frustrating, the whole affair. Is not like I haven't imagined how a reunion with Peeta would turn out; I have, a lot, but happens that it always ends up in a very bad tone. Instead of answering me she just keeps fiddling with my hair and in no time I'm dozing off again.

I found myself in my room, and the day is felt unusually shorter, like I have been trapped in some sort of daze that I can't come out. I still in my clothes and I swing my legs to the side, my feet touching the cold wood floor, a few blinks to adjust my sight to the darkness and then I make my way to the corridor, my body making it's way to the bathroom. A splash followed by some teeth brushing and I am descending the stairs.

In the kitchen I find Haymitch and Prim sited while my mom roams over the oven, "Hey there, sweetheart, nice to see you all wake-wakey," the man half snarls, half mutters and I frown at his tone.

Prim gives me a funny look, "He carried you to your bed," she pinches Haymitch's nose and he swats her hand away, he wrinkles his nose and then starts to sneeze. Is actually quite cute the way they interact. Instead of sitting I decided to help my mom, placing the plates and tableware, she gives me a timid smile as if I was some animal that might scurry away at any sudden movement. Maybe I am.

Haymitch gave a devious stare and I shudder under his gaze, "So, any sweet dreams you might want to share? Sugary ones?" he provoked and I gave him a warning glare, but that didn't fazed him, "Dreams with the baker?" he gave into his urge to torment me and all I could do was swallow the lump in my throat. No witty comeback, not even a shrug.

"Haymitch!" Prim chastised, at least Haymitch seemed a bit guilty after.

Mom sat next to me, we all ate exchanging small talk, I mean they did the small talk, all that I did was to eat and listen to them, about how Haymitch decided to raise some geese, of Prim's new uniform for the future days in school and about mom next shift on the hospital.

"So, I got those invitations for the country club, anyone interest in making me some company?" Haymitch asked after sometime and Prim gawked at him and then at mom and it was all so funny that made me crack a smile.

Mom shook her head with a playful smile of her own, "That does sound fun, didn't know that you were a member of the country club, though," it seemed a fairly innocent question, but I saw some turmoil pass in Haymitch's eyes before his answer.

"Well, those snobs couldn't refuse my money I guess, who would've thought that my geese would actually lay golden eggs," the grown-ups shared a laugh and Prim and I went for a monotonous '_Ah_'. I could tell that there was more to the story than what he was giving, but who am I to question for more?

After dinner Haymitch stayed for a cup of coffee then went home. I was washing the dishes when mom approached me, "That was a nice idea of Haymitch wouldn't you agree?" the sideway glance that I gave her was all that she needed to explain further, "the club is very nice, there is a bar, a pool, there is also an area reserved to sports, with an archery station,"

I arched a brown at her, "That sounds very nice indeed,"

She gave a humorless laugh, "You see, back in the day the board that owns the club only accepted the wealthy part of the town, so people like Haymitch and your father were not able to afford to go there," that perked my attention, it was really rare for mom to share old memories, so I took all the opportunities that I could to listen to them.

Her hands started to trace the golden patterns on the edge of the plates there were drying on the kitchen rack, her blue eyes shimmering.

"I used to spend my Sunday mornings in the club, your grandparents enjoyed being seen there," she said the last part conspiratorially, "I remember as if it was yesterday when your father appeared in that cyan uniform with white shorts, his first week as waiter there, even then he was beyond handsome,"

"He worked there?!" I couldn't help myself, "How he approached you?"

She mused for a few moments, then a smile spread across her features, "Your grandparents were basically throwing Peeta's father at me and I was feeling a little…suffocated,"

"Peeta's father?!" to say that I was surprised was an understatement.

"Yes, back than we had sort of a _thing…_ nothing serious, really," she looked at me with a funny face, "He was always nice and a true gentleman and you know how charming the Mellark boys can be…" she trailed off.

Thankfully she turned her gaze to the dishes again, because my face was lit up. Indeed, I know how charming a Mellark can be, "So… you guys dated?"

"Oh no, we never got that far, we barely went out together, but I do think that I kissed his cheek once, does that count?" she asked with a hint of humor and I gave her a good-natured frown at her, "My first kiss was with your father, it was sort of scary back then,"

"The kissing?" I asked tentatively.

She shook her head, "Not that…but the certainty," she stared at the window in front of the sink, probably remembering something precious from her time with dad, "The certainty that he was everything that I wanted,"

I nodded slowly, my heart aching. How cruel can fate be, to let you find your soul mate, the love of your life, give a glimpse of paradise, so he can be stolen from you and tear your heart apart. And just like that she was wiping tears from my eyes.

"It can be scary, daunting even… but I will never regret any of it," her voice firm, motherly, and I automatically leaped into her arms and hugged her as I haven't in a very long time, too long to remember.

* * *

Apparently the cosmic living hell that I was experiencing decided to take a biophysical turn. It was unbearably hot, a true summer night, my tank top was clammy with sweat, I wasn't even using a blanket, my hair was suffocating me in the pillow, so I leapt from the bed, walking more than awake to the window, trying to no avail to open it more.

I huffed, this was no good, there is no way that I'm going to sleep when it's this hot. Using my cell phone lantern to guide me to the stairs I noticed that Prim was having a hard time too. Her door was completely open and so was her window, she was basically thrashing in her bed, tossing back and forth, her hair in two braids and I could see her skin shimmering under the moonlight.

Making a mental note to buy fans the next day I walked to the kitchen, spotting Buttercup sleeping in one of the chair. Without ceremony I opened the refrigerator and practically throw my body in there.

"Ahhh" I sighed, the cool air soothing my nerves. Two minutes and I was going to the front porch with a can of iced tea, with a loud snap I gulped it with an eagerness that only thirst could allow.

A sudden buzz startled me, it was my phone, more precisely Johanna sending me messages through Whatsapp, _3 messages_.

_hey brainless!11  
r u awake?  
i can see that you are online_

_what do you want?_

_Gee sorry for disturbing you beauty sleep  
So wt u going to do tmrrow?_

_Going to the club w family_

I paused at the, because right there I was including Haymitch in my family. A quick glance at his house shrugged off any concerns, he was family now.

_That's cool, maybe we can hang out  
Haven't see in a while_

_Missing me?_

_Hardly_

_¬¬'_

_Finnick in the other hand is crying everyday  
Surprised that he hasn't stalked you at your home_

Maybe she sensed my fear and abrupt desire to run inside and lock every single door and call the police…

_Just kiddin C:  
So…I just going to say it okay?_

_What?_

_Is about peeta_

My hear skipped a beat right there. My finger typing faster than ever.

_I know he is your friend and whatever you have to say to me you can just spill it out_

_Easy girl!  
he just  
he misses you_

…

_He said that?_

I wanted to face palm myself, even in digital text I was able to fail in how put up my words.

_You know what it's late and if someone asks anything  
u haven't heard a word from me kay?_

Just one thought was running in my head: _that bitch!_

* * *

I woke up on the couch with Prim trotting in the stairs, she was in a pretty white dress with matching sandals and her braids were tighten with two orange clamps, "Hey! You not ready yet! Come on, mom is almost done," she said with a bossy tone that was characteristic of hers on these occasions.

Wobbling my way to my room, feeling every bone in my back snap at every movement, I registered how sunny the day was, it almost burned my retinas but I still managed to see my mom putting a bundle of clothes in my backpack.

"Hey," my voice came rusty and a bit scratchy, "I didn't need to do that,"

She looked me with a neutral expression, "I'm your mom, I don't need to do anything for you, I just _want_ to do things for you," she gave me a tiny smile and nodded towards my window, "You should take your bow, there is a practice field there, it will do you some good,"

She patted my arm lightly when she passed by in the doorway. I don't really know when my mom became…well, my mom, but I was starting to like it.

The country club was near the town entrance, so it was pretty nostalgic to see the old oaks that adorn the sidewalk of the road. Mom took a detour and the sun hit full on in Haymitch's face. He grumbled miserably in the passenger's seat and Prim and I snickered in the back.

The side-road was surrounded by the forest and the sighted soothed me, I loved the green leaves under the sunlight so when Prim punched me playfully in the shoulder I knew I was wearing a smile matching hers.

If the town had an overall eclectic style to it the club was downright contemporary, all white with modern stone parapets, an abundance of glass throughout, the hardwood cladding and pristine white render almost sparkling in under the sun.

And that made me feel complete out of place due my current attire, my white tank top, blue shorts and boots seemed completely alien in here. When Ms. Trinket came into view, with all her disgust towards my clothes splatted across her features, deep down I wanted to say that she was looking ridiculous as always, but apparently her fuzzy-colorful persona took breaks on weekends. She was wearing one fine looking white shirt with subtle baby blue stripes along with a white pencil skirt and a pair of pale blue tiptoes, her copper belt was the only thing adding some color, because even her usual hair, the curly voluminous one, was straight and silky. She made her way to us, a wicked smile appearing as soon as she noticed Haymitch.

"The Everdeens! Ah what a lovely sight," she smiled at us, then turning her gaze to Haymitch, "Not you, though," she amended with a smile, quickly snatching her sunglasses from her purse and waving at us.

Haymitch emitted a low grow at her departure, "Such _lovely_ manners of hers, manners… manners my …"

"Haymitch!" my mom swatted his shoulder instantly shutting him up, it was funny to watch our drunkard, he seemed to be having a bad day so far, by the looks anyone could agree with me. Because when you're on a country club you don't wear cardigans with shorts and especially with flip-flops and panama hats. At least I could point him a crazy uncle to strangers.

The inside of the clubhouse was superb, with the porcelain stoneware and velvet curtains being more valuable than our entire house, with the furniture and us inside of it. Every piece of furniture is vivid and rich in detail, with the exception of the ornaments such as vases and pieces of décor with were all white.

The main hall leaded to the courtyard at the back, while the west wing had the restaurant and the right wing to amount of other rooms, in the upstairs resided a small auditorium, probably the one where socialites used to thrown teas to help the poor.

"Let's go to the pool!" Prim said suddenly, it was an enthusiastic shout, which caught the attention of some of the people around, considering how early it was the half dozen of patrons around was okay. They were all blonde with blue eyes, which was such a slap in the face. A very strong remind of Peeta, and how physically and monetary apart we were from each other. Of course all that line of thinking wouldn't matter if he liked me.

I have become such a silly girl since I got in this town…

* * *

We ended up at the outdoor pool, since they had other two indoors, it was part 09:00 am and things were very quiet. Prim was swimming like crazy while my mom was chilling in one of the chase lounges with Haymitch by her side, talking amiably. Effie was not far from us, sporting a golden bathing suit that made quite the point in showing some skin.

Even though the sunglasses I could tell that Haymitch was following her every move, and in his defense I got say, she had a sick body.

I was still on my clothes, skin baking under the sun. And better than stay here and do nothing was to actually try the archery field that was visible far-far away from the pool. I warned mom and grabbed the case of my bow and made my way to the field, a few people gave me once overs and shrugged them off. It was going to do me o good to care about their opinion, even if it mattered.

Wrapping the idea of my father working here was a bit weird, especially if I considered that my mom and the rest of her family were patrons and he was, hierarchically speaking, beneath her. And by the looks it was tough job, the gardens ate endless and the grass is trimmed to perfection, it would probably make the sacred grass of Wimbledon pale in comparison. The round bushes, cherry trees and majestic oaks clearly tried to emulate the Japanese gardens that I saw once in a book.

On my way to the field I passed by six tennis courts, two soccer fields, one kiosk and what seemed to be the entrance to one golf area. Everything so green and lush, so beautiful that the idea of working here while being poor and having to serve the rich townsfolk was sickening, unless with you had a very good reason besides the money, maybe that's way dad worked here. He really loved mom, and the two of them dating would be such a slap on the face at everyone here.

She probably was victim of every sort of indignation and scandalous gossip, she was definitely gaining points with me these past few days. At the archery field was considerably small when compared with the rest of the courts that I have seen so far, but hey, how many archers could be around here anyways, and the prospect of spending some time alone here would do some good to me, clear my head for a while.

My bow was immaculate in its case, and my quiver was also in prize condition along with the arrows, so I looked around, searching for a supervisor. It took a couple of minutes until a dark skinned woman enter the field, she was wearing the employers uniform, a cyan shirt, and in her case, with a white skirt. She seems surprised in see me here, in seeing _anyone_ around here, really.

"Oh, didn't expected anyone around here today, shooters usually come later," she said. My eyes darted to the name tag attached to her shirt, _Atala_, was her name. She glanced at my case, her eyes showing some wonder for a brief moment, "Oh, an archer, that's fresh,"

I smiled a tad timidly at her, I took pride in my bow, but the recognition of being an archer was unusual and it made me feel way too awkward, "Yep, I'm looking for some targets to practice, it has been a while since my last day at the archery club in my old school,"

She nodded slowly, appraising my quiver, "These look good, you must be the Everdeen girl, your father was one the most popular archers around here," she said good-naturally. My surprised must shows because she quickly adds, "He is sort of a legend around the employees," she laughed along with me.

My heart swelled with a little of pride, "So how does it work around here? Round targets? Dummies? Track and field practice?" I asked trying to get my head back to what I was doing before Atala arrived.

She recomposed, nodding and heading to the far corner of the small complex, the bright blue wall that I was facing had the round targets hanging on top of it, behind it I could see some paper dummies, probably for shooting with fire weapons. The few bullet holes on the wall also helped me to deduce this.

In instants the targets were descending and I was getting ready to shoot, quiver attached around my waist, feet ready to move, when Atala signaled that it was all okay I was on full throttle mode.

Holding the arrow brought all the familiarity back and I was more than happy to fall into it. The sizzling sound of the arrows flying to meet it's target. My aim had definitely seen better days, but I was getting a good grip of it, hitting bull-eyes at the forth target. I was having a very-very good time, really enjoying myself, something that I've not done in a very long time, so I easily lose myself in the activity, getting more and more hits, until my quiver is empty.

Atala lets a high whistle that breaks my concentration and a round of applause erupts behind me, I turn around a bit startled and through the iron grid I can see a small crowd, Johanna and Finnick cheering and clapping, but my hearts really skips a beat when I see _him_ standing there, applauding a little more subtly, a reserved smile on his face, I feel so dazzled with his appearance that when he mouths '_hey_' I don't hold back the single word.

"Hey,"

* * *

_A/N[2]: Yeah, no interaction between those two, I do not think they are ready for that just yet, but I'm forming ideas of the perfect reunion and who knows, maybe the reconciliation will happen next chapter?_

_Re-reading this story I felt a lack of Johanna and Finnick, so they will probably __be more present, I'm planning two more chapter, maybe more, I'm still not sure though, and for those who want to know what I'm up to just go to my tumblr. I'm loving it more and more._


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